Maryam Nawaz lauds PML-N performance in AJK polls, rejects rigging allegations

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has said the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir have expressed confidence in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz by voting for development and improved public services.

Maryam congratulated PML-N workers on what she described as the party’s success in the first phase of the electoral process. She also congratulated PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“The people of Kashmir have sealed their success and development,” she said, adding that voters had supported the PML-N after observing development projects and governance initiatives in Punjab.

Maryam said the dominant demand heard during the election campaign was for Azad Kashmir to receive facilities similar to those available in Punjab.

She maintained that voters had become politically aware and could no longer be influenced by slogans, emotional appeals or accusations unsupported by performance.

Criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party, Maryam said it had governed Sindh for 17 years but had failed to present a convincing record of development or governance during the Azad Kashmir campaign.

Addressing PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, she said election results were decided by the people rather than the state and urged the party to accept the public verdict with an open heart.

“The PPP should have generously admitted its defeat,” she said. “If you work a little harder, the results can be better.”

Maryam rejected allegations of electoral rigging and questioned why the PPP was raising such claims despite having a government in Azad Kashmir.

She also referred to the PPP’s previous electoral success in Gilgit-Baltistan, saying the party had not alleged rigging when the result was in its favour.

“You won the Gilgit-Baltistan election and there was no rigging there,” she said. “People do not vote for those who only complain.”

The chief minister claimed that the PPP had no clear agenda, development plan or political narrative to offer voters and had relied mainly on criticism of its opponents.

She said Bilawal had failed to present a performance record to the electorate and suggested that, had the PPP delivered stronger results, it would not have needed to spend much of its campaign criticising the Punjab government.

Maryam also criticised governance and infrastructure conditions in Sindh, asking how a party unable to repair roads in its own province could promise to develop Azad Kashmir.

“Improve the roads of Sindh and improve governance,” she said, adding that the PPP could not credibly promise to transform Azad Kashmir on the model of Karachi.

She recalled that the PPP had remained part of the Azad Kashmir government for about a year and alleged that conditions in the region had deteriorated during that period.

Maryam said the PML-N had openly promised to develop Azad Kashmir along the lines of Punjab and pledged that public welfare and infrastructure projects being implemented in Punjab would also be introduced in the region.

She further alleged that videos showing PPP-linked electoral irregularities had surfaced and circulated widely on social media. The allegation could not be independently verified.

The Punjab chief minister said political rhetoric and complaints could not substitute for performance, adding that voters now evaluated parties on the basis of governance, development and service delivery.