MIRPUR: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured victories in two constituencies as unofficial and incomplete results continued to emerge from the first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections, with the party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) locked in a closely contested race.
PPP candidates Qasim Majeed won LA-2 Mirpur-2 with 12,904 votes, defeating PML-N’s Azeem Bakhsh Chaudhry, who received 8,182 votes. In LA-3 Mirpur-3, PPP’s Chaudhry Yasir Sultan was declared the unofficial winner with 11,676 votes, ahead of PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed, who polled 9,832 votes.
In other constituencies, incomplete results showed PML-N leading in LA-1 Mirpur-1, LA-4 Mirpur-4, LA-5 Bhimber-1, LA-6 Bhimber-2, LA-7 Bhimber-3, LA-9 Kotli-2 and LA-13 Kotli-6. The PPP maintained early leads in LA-8 Kotli-1, LA-10 Kotli-3, LA-11 Kotli-4 and LA-12 Kotli-5, where vote counting was still underway.
Polling for the first phase of the elections concluded Monday after voting in 13 constituencies across Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber districts. Election authorities extended polling by one hour before ballot counting began.
The Election Commission has stressed that the figures are unofficial and non-final, with final results to be announced after completion of the official consolidation process.