MUZAFFARABAD: The ruling PTI on Thurs­day clinched top slots in most of the local government institutions in ten districts of Azad Kashmir.

Of the 10 district councils, the party grabbed ch­a­­irmanship in Muzaffa­r­a­bad, Neelum, Bagh, Jhe­lum Valley, Sudhnoti, Kotli and Mirpur districts, foll­o­wed by the PML-N in Poonch, Haveli and Bhimber.

Of the five municipal corporations, PTI’s councillors were elected as mayors in Mirpur, Kotli and Bagh. while slots in Rawalakot and Muzaffar­abad were respectively clinched by the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP) and PML-N.

Syed Sikandar Gillani of PML-N and Khalid Awan of PPP were elected as mayor and deputy mayor of Municipal Corpo­ration Muzaffarabad. In an upset result, PTI’s Imtiaz Ahmed Abbasi was elected as chairman while Raja Nasir Latif of the combined opposition emerged as vice chairman in Muzaffarabad.

Party enters into alliance with PML-N on one seat

In Bagh, retired Major Abdul Qayyum and Afraz Gardezi of PTI were elected as mayor and deputy mayor while Sardar Asif and Faheem Farooq were elected chairman and vice chairman of district council, respectively.

In Kotli, PTI’s Chau­d­hry Muhammad Taj and Raja Riyasat Mahmood were elected as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, of the municipal corporation.

In the district council, PTI’s Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor was elected as chairman. The post of deputy chairman went to PML-N’s Umair Naeem.

In Mirpur, Usman Ali Khalid and Muhammad Ramzan Chughtai of PTI were elected as mayor and deputy mayor of the municipal corporation while Naveed Akhtar Goga and Adnan Shaukat of PTI were elected as chairman and vice chairman of the district council, respectively.

In Poonch, Javed Sharif of PML-N and Sardar Imtiaz of PPP were elected as chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of the district council while Abdul Naeem Khan of JKPP and independent councillor Qazi Nisar were elected as mayor and deputy mayor of Municipal Corporation Rawalakot.

The PTI’s chairmen and vice chairmen were also elected in the district cou­ncils of Neelum, Jhelum valley and Sudhnoti.

In Haveli, the PML-N’s candidates were elected as chairman and vice chairman of the district council.

In Bhimber, PML-N’s Dr Muhammad Yousaf and PTI’s Raja Khawar were elected as chairman and vice chairman of district council

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2023