MUZAFFARABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Mon­day extended felicitations to his party’s AJK chapter for its success in the first two phases of local government (LG) elections “against all odds”.

“Congratulations to AJK PTI & Sardar [Tanveer] Ilyas for PTI’s success in LG elections against all odds,” Mr Khan wrote in a tweet.

AJK Election Commission Secretary Sardar Mohammad Ghazanfar told Dawn that of the 88 seats of four district councils of Bagh, Haveli, Poonch and Sudhnoti, results of 82 had been declared.

Of these, PTI secured 30, followed by 23 by PML-N, 12 by PPP, seven by independent candidates, five by the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP), four by Muslim Conference (MC) and one by the JUI-AJK.

He said that in the 28-member Bagh district council, PTI secured 13, MC secured four, PML-N and PPP secured three each and independent candidates bagged four seats. The result of one seat is pending.

In the 12-member Haveli district council (DC), PML-N bagged six seats, followed by three by PPP and one by PTI. The results of two seats were pending, he said.

In the 29-member Poonch DC, PML-N secured nine, followed by six by PTI and five by JKPP and one by an independent candidate. Results of two seats had been withheld.

In the 19-member Sudhnoti DC, PTI secured 10, followed by five by PML-N, two by independents and one by JUI-AJK. Result of one seat was pending, he said.

Of the four district councils, PTI was poised to grab the position of chairmen in Bagh and Sudhnoti, PML-N in Haveli and possibly in Poonch, only with PPP’s support.

In 696 out of 702 UC wards, whose results had been announced, PTI was on top with victory in 200 wards, followed by PML-N in 106 wards, PPP in 100 wards, independents in 234 wards, JKPP in 15 wards, MC in 24, Jamaat-i-Islami in seven, JUI-AJK in three wards and TLP in seven wards.

Of the 15-man Bagh Municipal Corpo­ration, he said nine seats were taken by PTI, two by the PPP and three by independents. PTI was all set to have its mayor in Bagh.

However, in Rawalakot Municipal Corporation, PTI had taken just two of the total 22 seats. Of the rest, eight were bagged by JKPP, five by independents, four by PPP and three by PML-N.

Giving collective results of all 18 wards of the municipal committees of Hajira (Poonch), Palandari (Sudhnoti) and Kahuta (Haveli), he said PTI won in six wards, followed by PML-N in four wards, PPP in two wards and independents in six wards.

Giving collective results of the 29 of the total 30 wards of the town committees of Khaigala and Abbaspur (Poonch), Dhirkot (Bagh), Tararkhal and Baloch (Sudhnoti), he said PTI had grabbed 12 seats, followed by seven by the independents, five by PPP, three by PML-N and one each by MC and JKPP.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2022