AJK Legislative Assembly elections begin with first phase voting

AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal warned that strict legal action would be taken against individuals.

MUZAFFARABAD : The first phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly elections began Monday, as over 1.4 million voters across 13 constituencies in Mirpur Division turned out to choose their representatives amid tight security arrangements.

A total of 296 candidates are competing in the first phase, including nominees from major political parties such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and independent candidates.

Election authorities said 1,401,439 voters are eligible to participate in the elections across Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber districts. The voter list includes 725,118 male voters and 675,628 female voters.

Officials have established 2,454 polling stations throughout Mirpur Division to facilitate the voting process, among them, 597 polling stations have been set up in four constituencies of Mirpur district, 1,107 in six constituencies of Kotli district and 608 in three constituencies of Bhimber district.

Authorities said extensive security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful polling and protect voters during the electoral process.

AJK Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal warned that strict legal action would be taken against individuals attempting to disrupt voting or interfere with the election process.

AJK Chief Secretary Khushhal Khan also expressed confidence in the arrangements and said government institutions were fully prepared to conduct peaceful elections. He said the people of Azad Kashmir had rejected elements that could create unrest and emphasized that maintaining public order remained a priority.