MUZAFFARABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the leading contenders in the third phase of the 2026 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections, while Muslim Conference chief Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan suffered a major upset in his home constituency.
Polling was held in four constituencies across Bagh and Haveli districts of Poonch division, with unofficial and non-final results emerging on Monday night. Counting was still under way and the results had yet to be formally announced.
The biggest upset came in LA-14 Bagh, where Public Dast-o-Bazu Party candidate Sajid Abbasi defeated Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan with 40,702 votes. The Muslim Conference chief secured 19,542 votes in his home constituency.
In LA-17 Haveli-Kahuta, PPP candidate Faisal Mumtaz Rathore was leading with 29,413 votes after results from 171 of 199 polling stations. PML-N candidate Chaudhry Mohsin Aziz was close behind with 27,319 votes.
In LA-15 Bagh-II, PPP candidate Zia Qamar was ahead with 13,500 votes based on results from 130 of 213 polling stations, while PML-N candidate Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas had secured 8,400 votes.
Meanwhile, PML-N candidate Sardar Mir Akbar Khan was leading in LA-16 Bagh-III with 13,589 votes from 123 of 186 polling stations. PPP candidate Sardar Qamar Zaman Khan was in second place with 11,355 votes.
Parties raise polling complaints
The PPP alleged that polling was delayed at several polling stations in LA-15 and LA-16 and said it had lodged complaints with the AJK chief election commissioner.
Zia Qamar separately filed an emergency complaint regarding polling stations 143 and 144 in Hattala Padhar, alleging that polling staff had not arrived and voting had not started even 90 minutes after the scheduled opening of polling.
The PPP also accused PML-N workers of removing its polling agents from seven polling stations, numbered 8 to 14, in Bani Maldhara in LA-14 and stamping ballot papers. The party said it had submitted a complaint to the election commission over the allegations.
Similar allegations had earlier been levelled against PML-N regarding polling stations 119 and 120 in LA-16, prompting another complaint to the election authorities.
PML-N maintains overall lead
In the first phase of the AJK elections, PML-N won nine of the 13 seats in the Mirpur division, while PPP secured four.
The second phase covered nine seats in the Muzaffarabad division and 12 seats reserved for refugees. PML-N won 15 of those seats, while PPP secured six.
With the results from the first two phases and the emerging figures from the third phase, PML-N remains ahead with 24 seats in the 45-member assembly, while PPP has secured 10 seats.
The final outcome of the third phase will be determined after the completion of counting and the formal announcement of results by the AJK Election Commission.