Voting is underway at 23 polling stations across two constituencies of Bagh district in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday.
Polling is taking place at nine stations in LA-15 Bagh-2, where 5,032 voters are eligible to cast their ballots, and 14 stations in LA-16 Bagh-3, where 7,238 voters can exercise their right to vote.
Polling began at 8am and will continue until 5pm.
Why was polling postponed?
Polling at these stations was originally scheduled for August 10 but was postponed after polling staff failed to arrive and tensions disrupted the process.
AJK Election Commission Secretary Raja Shakeel Ahmed Khan had said polling could not be held at the affected stations due to unrest.
The third phase of the AJK elections was held on August 10 across four constituencies in Bagh and Haveli districts, while voting in seven constituencies of Poonch and Sudhnoti was postponed due to law and order concerns.
Candidates leading in Bagh
Unofficial results from 203 of 213 polling stations in LA-15 Bagh-2 showed PPP candidate Zia Qamar leading with 16,696 votes, while PML-N’s Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas had 15,099 votes.
In LA-16 Bagh-3, PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar Khan was leading against PPP’s Sardar Qamar Zaman Khan.
PPP leads in two constituencies as PML-N wins one in third phase of AJK polls
PML-N leads first two phases
In the first phase of the AJK elections, PML-N won nine of 13 seats in the Mirpur division, while PPP secured four.
In the second phase, voters cast ballots for nine seats in the Muzaffarabad division and 12 reserved seats for refugees. PML-N won 15 seats, while PPP secured six.
Following the first two phases, PML-N has emerged as the dominant party with 24 seats, while PPP has won 10 seats.
The elections have been marred by allegations of rigging and violence from PPP. On August 3, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari described the polls as neither free nor fair.
PML-N rejected the allegations and challenged PPP to present evidence before the election commission.
