Azad Jammu Kashmir elections 2026

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[ghazi52]

MUZAFFARABAD: The PML-N bagged five while the PPP won two of the seven reserved seats that were up for grabs in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Under Article 22(1) of the AJK Constitution, the Legislative Assembly consists of 53 members, including 45 members elected directly through adult franchise and eight members chosen by directly elected representatives.

The reserved seats include five seats for women and one each for Ulema-i-Din or Mashaikh well-versed in the teachings of Islam, Jammu and Kashmir State subjects residing abroad, and technocrats and other professionals.

PML-N’s Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Arain was the only candidate to have submitted his nomination papers for the seat reserved for state subjects residing abroad. He was consequently declared elected unopposed.

After polling for the remaining seats on Monday, PML-N’s Sehrish Qamar, Maryam Idrees and Maryam Zaman, also known as Maryam Kashmiri, secured one seat each reserved for women. Seven votes were polled for each of them, as were for PPP’s Farzana Yaqoob, who claimed the fourth reserved seat for women.

There were just two more contenders — PML-N’s Riffat Abid and PPP’s Zobia Khurshid Raja — vying for the seats for women whose votes were tied at five. Eventually, Raja was declared the winner for the last seat left, with the result being decided by drawing lots.