AJK Bagh By-Polls: Voting Closes at 23 Polling Stations

Voting concluded peacefully on Saturday across 23 polling stations located in two electoral constituencies within Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Bagh district. The process, which commenced at 8:00 AM, was carried out without any reported incidents of violence, according to details provided by the AJK Election Commission and reported by Dawn Pakistan. Despite the calm environment, official sources noted that overall voter participation across both areas remained negligible throughout the polling hours.

The electoral body had earlier withheld the official results for LA-15 (Bagh Central) after polling failed to take place at nine stations during the initial voting phase on Monday. Prior to the delay, Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Sardar Ziaul Qamar held the lead with 16,637 votes, ahead of PML-N's Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas who garnered 15,015 votes, and Jamaat-i-Islami candidate retired Brig Dr Muhammad Khan who pulled 12,259 votes.

A parallel administrative hold was placed on the election outcome in the neighboring LA-16 constituency of Eastern Bagh. There, official result declarations were paused because voting could not be executed at 14 stations, which together represent a total pool of 7,238 registered voters.

With the conclusion of voting at the remaining nine stations in LA-15 and 14 stations in LA-16, the election commission can now proceed with combining the new ballots with the previously recorded totals. The consolidated results will formally close the election process and establish the parliamentary representation for both Bagh constituencies.