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.
In the Poonch division of AJK, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) received 104 seats, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) managed to secure third place with 129 seats, according to official results released by the AJK Election Commission on Sunday evening.
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 won 12 seats, followed by PPP with five and MC with two, PML-N with two, and independent candidates with four, giving them the majority on the Bagh district council.
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. JKPP gained the majority of seats in the Municipal Corporation of Rawalakot, while PTI took first position in the Municipal Corporation of Palandri. While the PML-N secured a majority in Haveli, the PTI headed the municipal body in Bagh. Elections for specific seats in these bodies as well as elections for their leaders and deputies, such as the chairman, vice chairman, mayor, and deputy mayor, will both be significant events for independent candidates.
