PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has directed the party leaders and workers to launch an aggressive election campaign in Gilgit-Baltistan, saying they would have to win the regional polls to fulfill a dream of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.

According to 24NewsHD, Bilawal, in a statement, declared that not holding free and fair elections in Gilgit-Baltistan could prove to be a big security risk for the country. In this connection, he urged the party workers to visit every house for spreading the message of Bhutto.

Gilgit-Baltistan was supposed to hold elections on August 18 but the process was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is expected that the polls would now be held in the middle of November.

The regional legislature – Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly – was dissolved after completing its five-year term on June 24. Elections for this assembly were held for the first time in 2015 in which the PML-N emerged victorious that led to a five-year government of Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had allowed the federal government to install a caretaker government in the region and conduct new elections after the completion of the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly’s term. As a result, Mir Afzal was sworn in as a care chief minister on June 24.

As the elections are nearing amid the situation in Indian-held Kashmir and along the China-India border in Ladakh region, Federal Minister Ali Amin Gandapur earlier this week said the government had decided to elevate Gilgit-Baltistan to the status of a full-fledged province with all constitutional rights, including its representation in the Senate and the National Assembly.