AJK Elections 2026 results: PML-N wins four of first six declared seats, PPP secures two

Amid tight security arrangements, polling, which continued from 8am in the morning till 6pm, took place across 13 constituencies in the Mirpur, Kotli, and Bhimber districts of the Mirpur Division. Over 1.4 million registered voters exercised their right to vote

Published: 09:06 AM, 27 Jul, 2026
Featured News, Pakistan
AJK Elections 2026 results: PML-N wins four of first six declared seats, PPP secures two

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has taken an early lead in the first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general elections, winning four of the first six seats for which unofficial full results have been received, while the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has secured two seats.

According to unofficial results, PML-N has won LA-1 Mirpur (Dadyal), LA-4 Mirpur (Khari Sharif), LA-7 Bhimber and LA-9 Kotli-2, while the PPP has emerged victorious in LA-2 Mirpur (Chakswari) and LA-3 Mirpur (City).

In LA-2 Mirpur (Chakswari), PPP candidate Qasim Majeed won after securing 12,904 votes, defeating PML-N candidate Azeem Bakhsh, who received 8,182 votes. Zafar Anwar finished third with 4,669 votes.

In LA-3 Mirpur (City), PPP candidate Yasir Sultan secured victory with 11,676 votes, defeating PML-N candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed, who polled 9,832 votes. Yasir Sultan won by a margin of 1,844 votes.

In LA-4 Mirpur (Khari Sharif), PML-N candidate Chaudhry Rukhsar Ahmed won the seat with 20,172 votes, defeating PPP candidate Sohaib Arshad, who secured 13,865 votes. The winning margin was 6,307 votes.

In LA-9 Kotli-2, PML-N candidate Umair Naeem emerged victorious with 31,080 votes, while PPP candidate Javed Iqbal Badhanvi finished second with 28,509 votes.

In LA-7 Bhimber, PML-N candidate Chaudhry Tariq Farooq won after obtaining 35,490 votes, defeating former prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, who received 25,100 votes.

Meanwhile, in LA-1 Mirpur (Dadyal), PML-N candidate Azhar Sadiq won with 15,427 votes, defeating PPP candidate Afsar Shahid, who secured 9,832 votes. Azhar Sadiq won the seat by a margin of 5,595 votes.

Celebrations and aerial firing by PML-N supporters were reported after the results.

The results remain unofficial and are subject to formal notification by the Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Counting of votes in the remaining constituencies is continuing.

After the completion of voting time which was extended by one hour till 6pm, vote counting started in Azad Kashmir’s first phase election battle. Polling took place across 13 constituencies in the Mirpur, Kotli, and Bhimber districts of the Mirpur Division. Over 1.4 million registered voters exercised their right to vote.

A close contest is expected Pakistan People's Party (PPP), PML-N and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). The overall law and order situation remained satisfactory during the polling.

The first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections was under way in the 13 constituencies of Mirpur Division, with voting time, which started at 8:00 am,  has been extended to 6pm and authorities claimed all arragnments were set for for free, fair and transparent polls, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The AJK Assembly elections were being held in 45 constituencies, including 33 territorial seats and 12 reserved for Kashmiri refugees living in Pakistan’s Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

The AJK Election Commission has introduced a three-phase election schedule for the first time, citing administrative and security considerations.

Polling started at the scheduled time and continued till 5:00 pm. Today (Monday) has been declared a public holiday in all three Mirpur Division districts — Bhimber, Mirpur, and Kotli — to facilitate the voting.

A total of 288 candidates are contesting today’s election in 13 constituencies. According to the AJK Election Commission, polling will be held at 2,316 polling stations, of which 1,241 have been declared ‘highly sensitive’ and 724 ‘sensitive’.

The contest features the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, Muslim Conference and other parties. In total, 22 political parties are participating.

A total of 1,265 candidates are contesting 45 AJK constituencies. Of these, 1,047 candidates are competing for 33 territorial seats, while 218 have filed nominations for the 12 refugee constituencies.

Three-tier security

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

Under the arrangement, police will provide 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 have been deployed, while Quick Response Force teams remained on standby to respond to any emergency.

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.

Phase-wise polling

The voting process was in progress in districts of Mirpur Bhimber and Kotli where over 1.4 million voters are exercising their right to vote.

In Mirpur District, over 400,000 voters are taking part in the elections, nearly 350,000 voters are there in District Bhimber District while Kotli District will see over 650,000 voters participate in polling.

Agents missing

The voting process could not kick off at a polling station in Kotli as the candidate agents were missing.

The polling staff was present at Polling Station No 1718 in Colonel Mahmood Government Boys Middle School in Gulpur but the agents were yet to arrive there.

Bilawal’s video message

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has appealed the people of Azad Kashmir to come and vote if they want to decide the Kashmir’s future.

In a video message released on Monday, Bilawal urged the voters to stamp on Arrow to make PPP candidates successful.

PML-N’s appeal

Senior Punjab Minister Mariyum Aurangzeb has said that party president Nawaz Sharif believes in serving the public.

Addressing a public gathering in Rawalpindi, she said Nawaz Sharif made country’s defence impregnable by conducting a string of nuclear tests. “Serving people is the other name of Mian Nawaz Sharif,” she averred.

The minister said all the big or smaller projects in the country had been launched during Nawaz Sharif’s government. “Progress in Punjab is the undeniable truth of it,” she added.

“It’s the Nawaz Sharif who replaced politics of hatred with politics of serving public,” she said and added Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif brought the country out of crises.

PPP sets up monitoring cell

The PPP has set up an election monitoring cell at the party’s central secretariat in Islamabad to keep an eye on elections for Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

According to the PPP, the monitoring cell was established on the order of the central leadership.

Senior leaders are monitoring the election process along with election commission, district administrations and other relevant institutions.

Clashes at two polling stations

Clashes between workers of rival political parties were reported from two polling stations of LA-9 Nikial.

Police said voters clashed at Polling Station Nos 74 and 119 during which one voter was injured.

Reporters Zahid Bashir Chaudhry, Muhammad Nadeem Chaudhry and Rozina Ali

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