Polling concludes in Mirpur division as scuffles, rigging allegations mar first phase of AJK elections

Scuffles and rigging allegations marred the first phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections as polling concluded in the 13 constituencies of Mirpur division on Monday.

Polling began at 8am and concluded at 6pm across all three districts — Bhimber, Mirpur, and Kotli — of the division after a one-hour extension.

While minor skirmishes and scuffles between PPP and PML-N workers in Kotli district were reported earlier in the day, the electoral process took a violent turn in the afternoon in LA-9 Kotli-II (Nakyal).

In a statement on X, the PPP claimed that party worker Mukhtar Younus “died during incidents of display of arms and public harassment by PML-N candidate Sardar Umair Naeem”.

Mirpur Commissioner Raja Tahir Mumtaz confirmed that a man was killed and two others, including the deceased’s father, were injured in an incident.

On the other hand, the PML-N claimed that Younus had been involved in its election campaign activities.

PPP AJK Election Cell Incharge Sardar Abdul Shakoor demanded that all those involved in the incident be immediately arrested, law and order be restored, and the safety of voters’ lives and property be ensured.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed his grief over the death, saying he received reports that Younus has been killed “in firing by” PML-N’s Naeem.

“My worker has been martyred in Mirpur’s Nakyal. Where are the relevant authorities? What is the Election Commission doing?” he asked in a statement.

He said a video had emerged two days ago of Naeem and his companions “firing in public”, adding that there would not have been a loss of life if the relevant authorities had taken notice of the video back then.

Bilawal said Younus had been running an election campaign with party candidate Javed Budhanvi, who currently serves as the food minister. The PPP chairman alleged last week that a criminal case registered against Budhanvi was politically motivated.

That case was registered after a PML-N activist campaigning for Naeem was killed and two others were injured in a firing incident in Kotli on July 10, according to police sources and party activists.

PML-N leader Malik Abdul Qayyum Shami, along with his companions Malik Abdul Hameed and Malik Ashiq Awan, was returning in a jeep after campaigning for Naeem when the trio came under fire near Banala village, Naeem’s focal person Asrar Liaquat had told Dawn.

As a result, Liaquat said, Awan was killed while Shami and Hameed sustained injuries.

Accusing PPP activists of firing, Liaquat said an application submitted to police nominated several PPP activists as suspects in the attack. He added that Budhanvi had also been named in the application on charges of abetment.

PPP, PML-N trade rigging allegations

Earlier in the day, the electoral process at three polling stations in Kotli and two in Bhimber district was suspended for the rest of the day due to polling-related incidents. Repolling would depend upon if the total number of votes casted impacted the results.

The electoral process was also briefly interrupted at some other polling stations following minor scuffles and heated exchanges between supporters of competing political parties.

Both the PPP and PML-N — allies in the Centre but face to face in the AJK polls — accused the other of rigging in multiple constituencies of Kotli. The Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) also faced rigging allegations in Bhimber district.

In a post on X, the PPP urged the Election Commission to take notice of the PML-N’s alleged “attempts to influence polling” in Union Council Throchi of the LA-12 constituency (Kotli-V), where Yasin is the PPP candidate.

Shakoor, the PPP’s election cell head, said that PML-N candidate Raja Riasat Khan allegedly entered “polling stations along with armed men and is trying to influence the polling process” in the constituency where the PPP AJK president is contesting.

Shakoor further said that “slow mobile phone service” was creating difficulties in communication for residents, the media and rescue authorities.

The PPP urged the Election Commission to ensure security at polling stations and an “independent, just and peaceful electoral environment”.

The PPP also accused the PML-N of “interfering in the polling process” in the LA-8 constituency of Kotli.

The party alleged in a post on X that the PML-N was trying to interfere in and disrupt the polling process at the Raj Mahal polling station.

The PPP demanded that the Election Commission take notice of the matter, ensure fair, transparent and peaceful polling, and take action against those violating the election code of conduct.

In Bhimber district’s Samahni tehsil, supporters of IPP candidate Ali Shan Soni took away ballot boxes from a polling station, according to the Mirpur divisional commissioner.

Videos of the purported incident were also circulating on social media, showing some men firing. PMLN senior leader Raja Azhar Iqbal said the polling station accounted for more than 500 votes and that they had lodged a written complaint with the district returning officer (DRO).

Individuals affiliated with Soni also set fire to a ballot box at another polling station, following which police took 30 people into custody in connection with the incident, Commissioner Mumtaz said.

Today (Monday) had been declared a public holiday in all three districts of Mirpur to facilitate polling.

Polls in AJK are being held in three phases over security concerns. The second and third phases are scheduled for August 2 and August 10 in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies, and 11 constituencies of Poonch division, respectively.

FIR filed against 2 presiding officers in LA-10

Ahead of the voting, the PML-N alleged pre-poll rigging in Kotli’s LA-10 constituency. Rana Sanaullah, who is also the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, alleged that PPP President in AJK Chaudhry Yasin was involved in election rigging and that presiding officers involved in the act had been apprehended.

In an audio clip played on Geo News, he demanded the AJK government and the AJK prime minister arrest a patwari he identified as Qaiser and interrogate him on the matter to locate others involved in the alleged rigging.

Sanaullah said the election results in the constituency would not be acceptable to his party until the completion of this “inquiry”.

While there was no official statement from the AJK government explicitly referring to the incident, a statement by the Election Commission said two presiding officers in Kotli had been arrested after it was reported that instead of reaching the relevant polling stations they had gone to “a residence”.

The Election Commission said “both presiding officers” were arrested and suspended from their duties, and legal action was being initiated against them under the law.

A statement by the Press Information Department said two new presiding officers had been deployed in their place at the relevant polling stations, after confiscating the polling material provided to the apprehended officials.

However, a first information report (FIR) filed about the incident named three presiding officers.

The FIR was registered on Sunday night at City Police Station Kotli under provisions of the local election act and penal code.

It said patwari Qaiser Ali, government school instructor Saqib Faryad, and college lecturer for physics Mazahir Aslam were supposed to be deployed at separate polling stations assigned to them.

However, they collected polling material from the RO office and stayed at the residence of another individual “on the suggestion of” Qaiser.

The FIR noted that “other political parties protested strongly” over the development and asserted that the action amounted to a violation of the electoral code of conduct.

For his part, PPP’s Nadeem Afzal Chan responded to Sanaullah’s allegation in a video statement, saying that his party had been pointing out from “day one that you have been announcing projects [in AJK] and your federal ministers are present at government offices on the day of polling”.

“So our first demand is that the federal government’s machinery should not interfere [in the elections] at all,” he said, further referring to the PML-N’s provision of e-buses to Mirpur and Muzaffarabad over the past few days.

He also alleged the use of government resources in elections, demanding an end to it. Chan stressed the need for fair and transparent elections, saying: “We will not let rigging happen at any cost. Have some patience and let people cast their vote.”

Security beefed up

A total of 288 candidates contested today’s election. According to the Election Commission, votes were to be cast at 2,316 polling stations, of which 1,241 were declared “highly sensitive” and 724 “sensitive”.

Election monitoring was organised through 13 zones and 205 sectors across the division, while 18,560 personnel from police and other law enforcement agencies were deployed under a three-tier security plan.

Under the arrangement, police provided the first layer of security, Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and the Federal Constabulary the second, and the Pakistan Army the third. Around 2,100 army personnel were also to be deployed, while Quick Response Force (QRF) teams were to remain on standby to respond to any emergency.

Earlier in the day, the Mirpur commissioner visited various polling stations and noted that the electoral process was underway across the division with the “security apparatus in place”.

Speaking to the media in the afternoon, AJK Inspector General of Police (IGP) retired Captain Liaqat Ali Malik said the polling process was underway in a largely peaceful manner.

Addressing the “one or two incidents” reported, he said minor scuffles were a “part of political activity”.

The police chief said some verbal arguments could occur as “temperatures are usually high” at polling stations where a close competition is expected.

IGP Malik noted that the police’s responsibility was to perform their duties in a “neutral, transparent and unbiased” manner.

Asked about an incident in LA-6 and a fire at a polling station in Bhimber, he said QRF teams stationed nearby responded.

The police chief further asserted that legal action will be taken against anyone who attempts to disrupt polling regardless of their political affiliation. He reiterated that such scuffles “routinely take place during such a process”.

Meanwhile, AJK Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan cast his ballot at a polling station in Bhimber’s Samahni tehsil.

AJK Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan casts his ballot at a polling station in Bhimber’s Samahni tehsil. — photo via Tariq Naqash

On Sunday, AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal warned that anyone attempting to disrupt the polling process would face strict legal action.

The warning followed the announcement by the proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on social media about a planned long march from Mirpur division towards Muzaffarabad. A core member of the JAAC, Umar Nazir Kashmiri, had claimed that caravans would converge at the Rawalakot sit-in, before marching towards Muzaffarabad after Zuhr prayers on the election day.

Bilawal vs Nawaz

The PPP and PML-N, which are allies in the Centre, have been engaging in a war of words lately and taking jibes at each other, as the two parties emerge as major contenders in the AJK race.

Bilawal and ex-premier Nawaz Sharif were both participating in canvassing in the lead-up to the polls, with observers seeing this election as a contest between the two.

Addressing a public rally in Mirpur on Friday as part of his party’s election campaign, Nawaz had named Bilawal and said Kashmir should not be mistaken for Kashmore, nor Mirpur for Mirpurkhas — districts of Sindh where the PPP has been in power for years.

The PML-N had also given 10 e-buses to Muzaffarabad and Mirpur as a “gift” and announced development schemes, prompting the PPP to decry poll code violations.

Bilawal on Sunday responded to Nawaz’s jibe, saying that whether it’s Kashmir or Kashmore, Mirpur or Mirpurkhas, their residents were “not ready to bargain away their rights”.

He also directly commented on Nawaz and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s announcement of “gifting” electric buses and hospitals on wheels to people of AJK before the election.

“Something built with the public’s money is not a gift from any politician — it is the public’s right,” he said, adding that he wanted to secure for the people of Kashmir the right to governance, the right to ownership, and the right to employment. ...