PTI leads in AJK local govt elections

PML-N comes in second with 129 seats; PPP third with 104 seats

MUZZAFARABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) held the lead by securing 229 local council seats, followed by independent candidates securing 199 seats in the second phase of local government (LG) elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) held on Saturday.

According to official results announced by the AJK Election Commission on Sunday evening, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) managed to take the third position by securing 129 seats, while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 104 seats in the Poonch division of AJK.

Jammu Kashmir Peoples' Party (JKPP) got 28 seats, All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (MC) got 22, Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) got seven, while Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) won four seats each in the LG elections. Out of 29 district council seats in Poonch district, PML-N won 10, followed by PTI, which bagged seven, and six each by PPP and JKPP, while PML-N and PPP secured five seats each in district council Haveli and PTI won only two seats.

PTI managed to secure a majority in the Bagh district council by securing 12 seats, followed by PPP and MC by securing five seats each; PML-N got two seats, while four seats were won by independent candidates.

PTI held the lead in district Sudhanoti (Palandri) by securing nine seats out of 16, PML-N got four seats, JUI got one, and three seats were won by independent candidates. The PPP was unable to secure any district council seats.

The majority of seats in Municipal Corporation Rawalakot were won by JKPP, while in Municipal Corporation Palandri, PTI won first place. In Bagh, the PTI led the municipal committee, while the PML-N won a majority in Haveli. Independent candidates will play an important role in elections for special seats in these bodies and elections for their heads and deputies like the chairman, vice chairman, mayor, and deputy mayor.