AJK vote counting under way at 23 polling stations; Faisal Rathore declared winner from Haveli

WEB DESK: Vote counting was under way on Saturday after polling concluded at 23 stations in two constituencies of Bagh district in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) , while the Election Commission declared Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore the winner from LA-17 Haveli.

According to the AJK Election Commission, polling at nine stations in LA-15 Central Bagh and 14 stations in LA-16 Eastern Bagh began at 8am and remained largely peaceful, with no untoward incident reported.

Voting had originally been held on August 10 in four constituencies across Bagh and Haveli as part of the third phase of elections. However, results in LA-15 and LA-16 were withheld after polling could not take place at a number of stations.

In LA-15 Central Bagh, results from the stations where polling was held earlier showed Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Zia-ul-Qamar leading with 16,637 votes. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas stood second with 15,015 votes, while Jamaat-e-Islami candidate retired Brigadier Dr Muhammad Khan was third with 12,259 votes.

The Election Commission had withheld the constituency’s final result because voting did not take place at nine polling stations. With polling at those stations now completed, the final outcome is expected after the remaining votes are counted.

The result in LA-16 Eastern Bagh was also withheld after polling could not be conducted at 14 stations, where a total of 7,238 voters are registered. Results from the remaining stations showed PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar leading with 19,515 votes, 3,225 ahead of his closest rival, PPP candidate Sardar Qamar Zaman.

Candidates contesting both constituencies have levelled allegations of large-scale rigging against one another.

Meanwhile, the AJK Election Commission issued a notification declaring Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore the successful candidate from LA-17 Haveli. Following polling on August 10, PML-N candidate Chaudhry Mohsin Aziz had approached the commission with allegations of electoral irregularities.

Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal reserved his decision on the petition on Thursday after hearing arguments from the parties. The commission has now formally declared Rathore the winner.

The commission also issued a notification confirming the victory of Jammu and Kashmir Awami Dast-o-Bazu chairman Sajid Iqbal Abbasi from LA-14 Western Bagh. The constituency is the home seat of Muslim Conference president and former AJK prime minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan. Abbasi defeated him by a margin of 21,000 votes.

In the phased AJK elections, the PML-N has so far won 24 seats, while the PPP has secured 11. Voting is still pending in Poonch and Pallandri districts, where elections were postponed because of the law and order situation arising from protests by a banned action committee.