The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has emerged victorious in the first phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general elections, winning majority of the 13 seats, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
According to unofficial results, out of 13 constituencies, PML-N took lion’s share of nine seats, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured four seats.
According to unofficial and unverified results, the PML-N appeared to have swept all three seats in Bhimber district, claimed two out of four constituencies in Mirpur district and four out of six in Kotli district.
At a late-night presser, Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal announced the official result for LA-1 (Mirpur-I). The CEC said PML-N’s Azhar Sadiq was successful with 15,427 votes, while his opponent Muhammad Afzal Shahid trailed with 9,832 votes.
The rest of the results were in the pipeline, he said, adding they would be released in due course.
In his remarks, the CEC termed the polls “the most difficult” in the history of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, for reasons that “everyone is aware of”.
While one or two isolated incidents do occur during elections, political parties often misrepresent them by blowing those occurrences out of proportion, without investigating them, he said.
CEC Mughal said that a presiding officer and his attached patwari, who were said to have gone into a private Kotli residence along with the election materials, were arrested and replaced with fresh personnel, and the polling material was recovered.
He also referred to a constituency in Raj Mahal where polling could not be held due to a disturbance, as well as the death of a political worker in Nakyal. However, he insisted the polling process was completed smoothly, despite the tragedy.
The low voter turnout prompted the Election Commission to extend polling time by one hour.
Sher is in command. Sher is unstoppable!!#MirpurSherKa pic.twitter.com/o7X5s7lRiA
— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 27, 2026
Setback for IPP, PPP
Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) faced a severe setback in the first phase of AJK elections, as party’s central general secretary in the region, Nisar Ansar Abdali, lost the election.
PPP’s AJK President Chaudhry Yasin also lost election in his hometown.
IPP candidate arrested
Meanwhile, police arrested former minister and Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) candidate Chaudhry Alishan Soni over alleged violence during polling in Samahni. According to police, he was accused of setting a polling station on fire, snatching ballot boxes, burning votes and creating a disturbance during polling in LA-6 Samahni.
SSP Bhimber Chaudhry Amin said 24 people, including Chaudhry Alishan Soni and his son, had been arrested in connection with the incident. Police said allegedly looted election material had also been recovered from the suspects.
Police also said the assistant commissioner and the relevant station house officer had been suspended for negligence during the elections in Samahni. Further investigation into the incident was under way and legal action would be taken in accordance with the law.
Results
According to the unofficial results of constituency LA-1 Mirpur-1, Azhar Sadiq of the PML-N won by getting 15,427 votes and Muhammad Afsar Shahid of the PPP came in second place by getting 9,832 votes.
Unconfirmed and unofficial results of all 149 polling stations of LA-2 Mirpur-2 came out according to which Qasim Majeed of the Pakistan People’s Party won by getting 12,904 votes, while Azeem Bakhsh Chaudhry of the PML-N came in second place with 8,182 votes.
According to the unofficial results of all 161 polling stations of LA-3 Mirpur-3, Chaudhry Yasir Sultan of the PPP was declared successful by getting 11,676 votes and PML-N's Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed came in second with 9,832 votes.
According to the unofficial results of all 162 polling stations in LA-4 Mirpur-4, PML-N's Chaudhry Rukhsar Ahmed won with 20,172 votes while PPP's Chaudhry Sohaib Arshad came in second with 13,865 votes.
According to the unofficial results of all 176 polling stations in LA-5 Bhimber-1, PML-N's Waqar Ahmed won with 29,821 votes, while PPP's Chaudhry Parvez Ashraf came in second with 29,100 votes.
In LA-6 Bhimber-2, PML-N's Muhammad Razzaq Chaudhry won by securing 32,039 votes while IPP’s Aali Shan Soni could grab 25,992 votes.
According to the unofficial results of all 237 polling stations in LA-7 Bhimber-3, PML-N's Chaudhry Tariq Farooq won by securing 35,490 votes while independent candidate Chaudhry Anwarul Haq was in second place with 25,100 votes.
According to the results from all 155 polling stations of LA-8 Kotli-1, PPP's Zafar Iqbal Malik won by securing 19,535 votes. PML-N's Malik Muhammad Nawaz Khan was in second place by securing 11,966 votes.
According to unconfirmed and unofficial results from all 178 polling stations of LA-9 Kotli-2 PML-N's Umair Naeem won by securing 31,080 votes while PPP's Javed Iqbal Badhanvi was in second place with 28,509 votes.
According to the results from all 168 polling stations of LA-10 Kotli-3, PPP's Chaudhry Yasin was declared successful by securing 12,421 votes. PML-N's Mahmoodul Hassan was in second place by securing 9063 votes.
According to the unofficial results of all 206 polling stations of LA-11 Kotli-4, Muhammad Asif of PML-N won by getting 26190 votes. Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq of PPP was in second place by getting 21751 votes.
According to the unofficial results of all 207 polling stations of LA-12 Kotli-5, Muhammad Riyasat Khan of PML-N won by getting 35168 votes. Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin of PPP was in second place by getting 30320 votes.
According to the unofficial and unofficial results of all 193 polling stations of LA-13 Kotli-6, Raja Ayaz Ahmed Khan of PML-N won by getting 21856 votes. Nisar Ansar Abdali of IPP placed second by securing 15859 votes.
Mirpur mein Sher ki Dhaar! #MirpurSherKa pic.twitter.com/gxxbd6dGCm
— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 27, 2026
Reporters Zahid Bashir Chaudhry, Muhammad Nadeem, Rana Shahzad and Hashir Warraich