Voting underway in Pakistan's Bagh district amid rigging allegations

Voting is underway in Pakistan's Bagh district, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, with 23 polling stations active across two constituencies. The process began at 8 a.m. and is scheduled to conclude at 5 p.m.

In the third phase of polling, initial results for LA-15 (Bagh Central) showed PPP's Sardar Ziaul Qamar leading with 16,637 votes, followed by PML-N's Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas with 15,015. However, the election commission withheld the result for this constituency as polling could not be completed at nine stations. Similarly, the result for LA-16 (Eastern Bagh) was also withheld due to disruptions at 14 stations, affecting 7,238 registered voters.

Despite the issues, results from the completed stations in LA-16 show PML-N's Sardar Mir Akbar leading his closest rival, PPP's Sardar Qamaruz Zaman, by 3,225 votes, having secured 19,515 votes. All five candidates in both constituencies have leveled accusations of widespread rigging against their opponents.

Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal assured that sufficient security personnel are deployed to ensure a secure environment for voters. The situation remains fluid as the commission addresses the disruptions and potential for further results.

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Since we have more than enough police and other law enforcement personnel available, we have made adequate deployment at the polling stations to provide a fear-free environment to voters.