MUZAFFARABAD: The PML-N will sweep next year’s general election to the Azaad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly without entering into an alliance with any party or group, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said on Thursday

“The steps taken for development, economic self-reliance and employment opportunities over the past four years have started bearing fruit and [AJK] voters will once again return PML-N to power in 2021 polls,” he said, in a statement.

Without naming anyone, Mr Haider went on to say that a few political and media commentators are trying to create instability in AJK. Declaring that the polls would be free, fair and transparent, he said: “No one will be allowed to replicate the scene of Gilgit-Baltistan [GB] in AJK, something which is not even possible here.”

The AJK government represents the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir including GB, he said, adding: “We have always supported and will continue to supportthe grant of constitutional and political rights to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan ... However, the plan of action in this regard needs painstaking deliberation and consideration.”

Lauding the courage displayed by the people of GB, he said, they snatched their freedom from the despotic Dogra ruler on their own in the most adverse conditions in 1947, adding the people of GB have faced too many difficulties but their determination has never ebbed.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2020