Muzaffarabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The counting of votes is underway after the polling time has ended for election to 45 seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly.
The polling started at 8am and continued until 5pm without any break. However, voters present inside polling stations were allowed to cast their votes until after 5PM.
At least two PTI workers were shot dead in a clash with PPP activists at a polling station in the Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
According to reports, a verbal clash broke out between the workers of PTI and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at the polling station of Kotli’s LA-12 constituency.
During the brawl, one of the workers opened fire that resulted in the death of two activists. The clashes were reported to have taken place at polling stations of the region.
In the 10 districts of AJK, elections took on 33 seats, amid strict security measures.
Nearly 40,000 security personnel have been entrusted with the task to guard 5,123 polling stations, of which 1,209 have been declared “sensitive” while 826 stations “most sensitive”.
Accordingly, the AJK government has also granted magisterial powers to 250 officers apart from regular magistrates and presiding officers in a bid to maintain law and order during the polling day.
All major political parties are contesting. However, the fight is triangular as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are the strongest parties followed by All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC) and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party (JKP).
