Azad Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2021: 33 parties gear up
The polls will be held on July 25
Artwork: Obair Khan/SAMAA Digital
The people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir will step out to vote for their leaders on July 25, Sunday.
A total of 724 candidates are contesting for 45 general seats. This year, 20 women are competing in the polls.
Leaders of political parties have landed in the region to campaign for the polls and persuade people to vote for them. PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz became kicked off the election campaign for PML-N, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari led PPP’s campaign following Bilawal Zardari’s departure to the US, and Prime Minister Imran Khan is leading PTI’s campaign.
The last elections were held in 2016, in which PML-N bagged 31 seats, PPP won three seats, PTI won two, and the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party won one seat. Of the total 29 seats, PML-N took 22. The remaining it won from 12 constituencies across Pakistan.
Number of seats and voters
This year, 32 political parties are competing for the AJK elections.
Over 2.8 million voters have been registered in Azad Kashmir and 0.4 million in Jammu. According to the AJK Election Commission, as many as 301,400 voters will exercise their right to vote in Mirpur district; 287,536 in Bhimber district; 540,646 in Kotli district, and 286,864 in Bagh district.
The AJK government has handed over the security of the upcoming election to the Pakistan Army. More than 44,000 security personnel will be deployed at polling stations across the region as per Article 245 of the Constitution. The Pakistan Army troops will be deployed from July 22 to July 26.
Police, assisted by LEAs from other provinces and Civil Armed Forces, including Rangers and FC, will be employed for the smooth and peaceful conduct of AJK Elections
The government has declared 1,209 polling stations sensitive and 826 most sensitive. Control rooms will be established across the region at the district level to ensure a smooth flow of voting.
Who is contesting?
Five hundred and seventy-nine candidates are competing for 33 constituencies within Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The remaining are contesting for 12 refugee constituencies comprising four provinces of Pakistan.
The 45 directly-elected members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will choose eight candidates for special seats. The assembly will be formed by 53 lawmakers.
Here is the list of candidates contesting for the elections this year:
LA 1 – Mirpur I
- PPP’s Choudhry Muhammad Asfar Shahid
- PTI’s Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq
- JK PP’s Raja Muhammad Sarfaraz
- Jamat Falah e Insaniyat AJK’s Abdul Latif Butt
- AII J&K MC’s Ghulam Rabbani Barq
- PML-N’s Chaudhry Masood Khalid
- IND Javed Iqbal
- IND Muhammad Jahangir Akbar
- IND Shoaib Abid
- IND Tahir Qayyum
- IND Shahid Ahmed Chughtai
- IND Zaffar Khan
- IND Zahoor Sarwar
- IND Ali Zaman
- IND Liaqat Ali
- IND Luqman Anjum Sultan
- IND Nasreen Akhter
- IND Nagina Perveen
- IND Waqar Ahmed Mughal
LA 2 – Mirpur II
- TLP’s Abu Al Hasnat
- MQMP’s Basharat Shareef
- PPP’s Qasim Majeed
- AAPP’s Khalid Farooq
- AII J&K MC’s Zulfiqar Ali
- QIP’s Sabar Sheraz
- PTI’s Zafar Anwer
- AT’s Asim Akram
- PML-N’s Muhammad Nazir Inqalabi
- JK UM’s Mazar Iqbal
- JK DP’s Mazar Iqbal
- IND Jameel Akhter
- IND Sohail Sarfaraz
- IND Shahid Anwer
- IND Azeem Bakhsh
- IND Muhammad Khalil
- IND Moheez Majeed
- IND Maqsood Ahmed Tahir
LA 3 – Mirpur III
- MWM’s Syed Tasawer Hussain Kazmi
- MQMP’s Toqeer Ahmed
- JI’s Zulqernain Butt
- PTI’s Sultan Mehmood
- JK UM’s Shabir Ahmed Chachi
- AII J&K MC’s Shazada Iqbal
- QIP’s Sardar Abdul Rahman Khan
- TLP’s Umair Asghar
- PPP’s Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf
- PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed
- AT’s Raja Muhammad Naib Khan
- AAPP’s Nasreen Farooq
- IND Yasir Sultan
- IND Muhammad Waqas Ashraf
- IND Muhammad Naheem
- IND Muhammad Azeem
- IND Muhammad Bilawal Hussain
- IND Muhammad Ashraf
- IND Qamar Zaheer
- IND Ishrat Hassan
- IND Shaid Latif
- IND Aman Ullah Khan
- IND Iftikhar Ahmed
LA 4 – Mirpur IV
- PTI’s Arshad Hussain
- JI’s Altaf Hussain
- MQMP’s Raja Tanveer ul Hasan
- JK UM’s Khalid Hussain
- PML-N’s Ruksar Ahmed
- PPP’s Riaz Ahmed Chaudhry
- TLP’s Abdul Aziz Chaudhry
- PPP’s Faiz Hameed
- AII J&K MC’s Raja Masood Raqoof
- IND Ikhlaq Ahmed
- IND Hafeez Ullah Khan
- IND Soaib Arshad
- IND Raja Zaheer ul Haq
- IND Abdul Qayyum Aziz
- IND Aveena Ruksar
- IND Farooq Ahmed
LA 5 – Bhimber I
- PPP’s Choudhry Pervez Ashraf
- PML-N’s Waqar Ahmed Noor
- J&K UM’s Aamir Saddique
- PTI’s Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq
- JI’s Muzaffar Hussain
- TLP’s Muhammad Khursheed
- AII J&K MC’s Muhammad Shafique Jarral
- IND Laeeque Muhammad Aamer
- IND Muhammad Sikandar Khan
- INDA Malik Abdu Hamid
- IND Shakir Raza
- IND Chaudhry Waleed Ashraf
- IND Waqas Khizar
- IND Muhammad Malik
LA 6 – Bhimber II
- PPP’s Idrees Chaudhry
- PTI’s Ali Shan
- AII J&K MC’s Khushnood Azam
- TLP’s Ghulam Qadar
- JI’s Fakhar Uddin Ahmed
- AT’s Mehbood Hussain
- JK Liberation League’s Muhammad Arif
- PML-N’s Maqsood Ahmed Khan
- IND Javeed Akhtar
- IND Javeed Iqbal
- IND Waheem Akram
- IND Adeel Ali Shan
- IND Muhammad Razzaq
- IND Muhammad Rafiq
- IND Muhammad Latif
LA 7 – Bhimber III
- PPP’s Anees Ahmed
- PTI’s Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq
- JI’s Riaz Ahmed
- TLP’s Muhammad Zubair
- J&K Awami Itehad’s Samia Mukhtar
- PML-N’s Tariq Farooq
- AII J&K MC’s Raja Tahir Iqbal Khan
- J&K UM’s Muhammad Ali Akhtar
- PPP’s Ali Murtaza
- J&K Awami Tehreek’s Muhammad Aziz Subhani
- IND Inam ul Haq
- IND Inam Sobani
- IND Raja Babar Ali Zulqernanin
- IND Muhammad Taimur Ilyas
- IND Muhammad Rizwan
- IND Muhammad Saeed
- IND Muhammad Sajjad
- IND Sami Ullah
- IND Muhammad Abdullah
- IND Abdul Qayyum
- IND Muhammad Usman
- IND Abid Zubair
- IND Qayyum Yousaf
- IND Raja Mazar Iqbal
LA 8 – Kotli I
- PML-N’s Zulfiqar Ali
- J&K UM’s Sanwal Shareef Akash
- JK PP’s Shahzad Ahmed
- PTI’s Zaffar Iqbal Malik
- TLP’s Malik Zaheer Ahmed
- QIP’s Aqib Amir
- PPP’s Muhammad Aftab Anjum
- JI’s Muhammad Arif
- AII J&K MC’s Malik Muhammad Nawaz Khan
- IND Amjad Rasheed
- IND Syed Amir Arshad Ali Shah
- IND Muhammad Zaman
- IND Muhammad Faiz Malik
LA 9 – Kotli II
- PTI’s Asif Hanif
- PPP’s Javed Iqbal Budhanvi
- AII J&K MC’s Sardar Muhammad Naeem Khan
- PML-N’s Munir Hussain Khan
- PPP’s Muhammad Raqib Shaheen
- TLP’s M.Shabeer Tabassum
- IND Asif Mumtaz
- IND Khizer Iftikhar
- IND Shadia Shaheen
- IND Shah Nawaz Ali
- IND Masood Ahmed
- IND Muhammad Baseer Khan Sarwar
- IND Muhammad Naeem Khan
- IND Waqar Ahmed Khan
LA 10 – Kotli III
- AAPP’s Anees Butt
- PML-N’s Zubair Iqbal Kayani
- JK Liberation League’s Shakil Ahmed Rathore
- JI’s Abdul Hameed Chaudhary
- QIP’s Sardar Abdur Rehman Khan
- PPP’s Raja Imran Adil
- TLP’s Muhammad Tasneem Azeem
- AII J&K MC’s Muhammad Farooq Khan
- PPP’s Muhammad Yasin Chaudhary
- PTI’s Malik Muhammad Yousaf
- IND Ahmed Faheem
- IND Rizwan Ahmed
- IND Shakeel Mehmood
- IND Asim Javed
- IND Atif Ikram
- IND Abdur Rehman
- IND Chaudhary Abdul Qayyum
- IND Irfan Arif Chaudhary
- IND Lal Hussain
- IND Liaqat Hussain Mughal
- IND Syed Majid Bukhari
- IND Muhammad Iltas Chaudhary
- IND Muhammad Amjad
- IND Muhammad Masood Raza
- IND Muhammad Najeeb Raja
- IND Chaudhary Nasir Kamal Yousaf
- IND Nazam Hussain
LA 11 – Kotli IV
- AII J&K MC’s Raja Iftikhar Hussain
- J&K UM’s Babar Hussain
- QIP’s Sardar Abdul Rehman Khan
- PTI’s Ch.Muhammad Ikhlaq
- PPP’s Sardar Muhammad Bashir Pehlwan
- AAPP’s Muhammad Bashir
- TLP’s Muhammad Habib
- JI’s Muhammad Mehfooz
- PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Naseer
- IND Abu Bakar
- IND Sardar Zaffar Iqbal
- IND Muhammad Akram
- IND Muhammad Babar
- IND Mehfooz Hussain
LA 12- Kotli V
- TLP’s Arshad Mehmood
- JK PP’s Bashrat Hussain
- PTI’s Shauqat Fareed
- JI’s Ghafarat Shaid
- PML-N’s Muhammad Riasat Khan
- JK Liberation League’s Muhamamd Sharyar Zaffar
- PPP’s Muhammad Yasin
- AAPP’s Maqsood Ahmed
- AII J&K MC’s Naeem Mansab Dad Khan
- IND Haider Ali Tepu
- IND Zulfiqar Ahmed
- IND Robina Shaheen
- IND Saeed Hussain
- IND Aqeel ur Rehman
- IND Muhammad Alyas
- IND Muhammad Munir
- IND Mumtaz Ahmed
- IND Nusrat Hussain
LA 13 – Kotli VI
- TLP’s Arslan Faiz
- PML-N’s Ayaz Ahmed
- JI’s Ch. Habib ur Rehman
- PPP’s Amar Farooq
- AII J&K MC’s Muhammad Rasheed
- PPP’s Muhammad Waleed
- PTI’s Nisar Ansar
- MQMP’s Waseem Zulfiqar
- IND Javed Iqbal
- IND Ch. Nisar Ahmed
- IND Zubair Hussain
- IND Shadab Sikandar
- IND Abdul Qayyum Sabri
- IND Abdul Qayyu Qamar
- IND Muhammad Asad
- IND Muhammad Waseem Kafiat
- IND Nasreen Akhtar
LA 14 – Bagh I
- JK PP’s Abrar Ahmed
- J&K UM’s Akhtar Hussain
- JI’s Imtiaz Ahmed Abbasi
- JI’s Khalid Mehmood Khan
- PPP’s Muhamad Khawar Khan
- TLP’s Muhammad Usman Abbasi
- PML-N’s Raja Faisal Azad
- PTI’s Muhammad Latif Khalique
LA 15 – Bagh II
- PTI’s Tanveer Ilyas
- PPP’s Rahida Riaz
- PPP’s Sardar Zia-ul-Qamar
- JI’s Abdul Rasheed Tarabi
- JUI’s Abdul Rasheed
- TLP’s Masood Hayat
- PML-N’s Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas
- MQMP’s Muhammad Gulzar Khan
LA 16 – Bagh III
- PML-N’s Ejaz Ahmed
- PTI’s Sardar Mir Akbar Khan
- PPP’s Sardar Muhammad Rafique Baig
- PPP’s Sardar Qamar-uz-Zaman Khan
- TLP’s Saddam Aziz
- JI’s Muhammad Sajid Khan
- MQMP’s Muhammad Rafique Hashmi
LA 17 – Bagh IV
- TLP’s Tanveer Hussain Siddiqui
- PML-N’s Ch. Muhammad Aziz
- PPP’s Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore
- PTI’s Amir Nazir Choudhary
LA 18 – Pooch and Sudhnuti I
- PPP’s Muhammad Ishfaq Khan
- PPP’s Sardar Amjad Yousaf Khan
- JI’s Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan
- TLP’s Tariq Aziz
- PTI’s Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Nayazi
- PML-N’s Ch. Muhammad Yasin Gulshan
LA 19 – Pooch and Sudhnuti II
- PTI’s Sardar Arzash Sadozai
- PPP’s Saood bin Sadiq
- PML-N’s Sardar Amir Altaf Khan
- TLP’s Gulbaz Khan
- JI’s Muhammad Sarfraz
LA 20 – Pooch and Sudhnuti III
- PML-N’s Abdul Rashid Khan
- PTI’s Khattab Azam
- JUI’s Riaz Ahmed Nomani
- TLP’s Shafat Hussain
- PPP’s Sardar Muhammad Yaqoub Khan
- JI’s Zahid Rafiq
LA 21 – Pooch and Sudhnuti IV
- PML-N’s Tahir Anwer Khan
- TLP’s Muhammad Abid Hussain
- JI’s Sardar Qayyum Afsar Khan
- JUI’s Dr Muhammad Irfan Kiyani
- PPP’s Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan
- PTI’s Nayyar Ayoub Khan
LA 22 – Pooch and Sudhnuti V
- PPP’s Syed Dilawar Hussain Bukhari
- PTI’s Shahida Sagar
- PML-N’s Sardar Abdul Khaliq Wasi
- JI’s Muhammad Sajjad Khan
- TLP’s Muhammad Naeem Khan
LA 23 – Pooch and Sudhnuti VI
- JI’s Arslan Nisar
- QIP’s Shoukat Hussain Gohar
- PTI’s Sardar Muhammad Hussain Khan
- PPP’s Muhammad Raees Khan
- PML-N’s Muhammad Najeeb Khan
- TLP’s Naseem Ahmed Khan
LA 24 – Pooch and Sudhnuti VII
- TLP’s Zulfiqar Ali
- JI’s Sardar Arshad Nadeem Advocate
- QIP’s Abdul Ghafoor Khan
- PPP’s Innyat Ullah
- PML-N’s Farooq Ahmed Tahir
- PTI’s Faheem Akhter
LA 25 – Neelum Valley I
- JI’s Muhammad Altaf Kashmiri
- TLP’s M. Ayyun Sheikh
- PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed
- AAPP’s Sajid Gul
- PTI’s Sardar Gul Khandan
- PML-N’s Shah Ghulam Qadir
- MQMP’s Shokat Hussain
- QIP’s Tauseef-Ur-Rehman
- Pak Kashmir Party’s Syed Manzoor Akbar Shah
LA 26 – Neelum Valley II
- PTI’s Raja Muhammad Ilyas
- PML-N’s Raja Basheer Khan
- Pak Kashmir Party’s Zaheer Ahmed
- PPP’s Mian Abdul Waheed
- JI’s Anayat Ali Awan
- MQMP’s Muhib-ur-Rahman
- JUI’s Mahrouf Ahmed
- TLP’s Mian Muhammad Khabib
LA 27 -Muzaffarabad I
- MQMP’s Babir Iman Khan Ikhwanzada
- PTI’s Mir Atique ur Rehman
- TLP’s Mir Fahad Mushtaq
- PPP’s Sardar M. Javed
- PML-N’s Noreen Arif
- JUI’s Hafiz Waqas Ahmed
LA 28 – Muzaffarabad II
- PTI’s Ch. Shahzad Mehmood
- JI’s Raja Asad Khan
- PML-N’s Ayed Murtaza Gillani
- PPP’s Syed Bazil Ali Naqvi
- TLP’s Syed Shahbeer Hussain Kazmi
- AAPP’s Naila Shahzaman
LA 29 – Muzaffarabad III
- PML-N’s Syed Iftikhar Gillani
- PPP’s Raja Jamal Abdul Nasir
- MQMP’s Junaid Ahmed Mir
- PTI’s Kh. Farooq Ahmed
- TLP’s Malik Fiaz
- PPP’s Sardar Mubarak Haider
- JI’s Syed Nazeer Hussain Shah
LA 30 – Muzaffarabad IV
- PPP’s Ayed Iftekhar Hussain Shah
- TLP’s Shaukat Hussain
- PPP’s Mubashir Muneer Awan
- JI’s Muhammad Bashir Awan
- PTI’s Muhammad Rasheed
- PML-N’s Mustafa Bashir Abbasi
- All J&K MC’s Syed Tassawar Abbas Musavi
LA 31 – Muzaffarabad V
- PML-N’s Raja Ibrar Hussain Khan
- JI’s Qazi Shahid Majeed
- PPP’s Ch. Latif Akbar
- TLP’s Muhammad Ashraf
- PTI’s Raja Muhammad Mansoor Khan
- MQMP’s Syed Waqarat Hussain Shah
LA 32 – Muzaffarabad VI
- JUI’s Altaf Hussain Siddique
- JI’s Raja Muhammad Mushtaq Khan
- PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan (AJK PM)
- PTI’s Syed Zeeshan Haider Kazmi
- TLP’s Muhammad Ashfaq Hashmi
- PPP’s Muhammad Ashfaq Zaffar
LA 33- Muzaffarabad VII
- PTI’s Deewan Ali Chughtai
- PML-N’s Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan (AK PM)
- JI’s Syed Ali Imad-ul-Islam
- TLP’s Abdul Razzaq
- JUI’s Mukhtar Ahmed Kiani
- PPP’s Muhammad Javed
Refugee seats
LA 34 – Jammu I
- PTI’s Riaz Ahmed
- PPP’s Zahid Iqbal
- PSP’s Shah Abdul Latif Faisal
- TLP’s Fazal Ur Rehman
- PML-N’s Nasir Hussain Dar
LA 35 – Jammu II
- PML-N’s Ch. Muhammad Ismail
- PPP’s Khalid Mehmood Chaudhary
- PPP’s Muhammad Iqbal
- TLP’s Muhammad Arif
- PTI’s Maqbool Ahmad
LA 36 – Jammu III
- PPP’s Choudhry Shaukat Ali
- PTI’s Hafiz Hamid Raza
- TLP’s Rana Adnan Jamil
- PPP’s Faiz Ullah
- PML-N’s Muhammad Ishaq
LA 37 – Jammu IV
- TLP’s Arslan Rasheed
- PTI’s Muhammad Akmal Sargala
- PML-N’s Muhammad Siddique Chaudhry
- PPP’s Mazhar Yousaf Choudhary
LA 38 – Jammu V
- PML-N’s Zeeshan Ali
- TLP’s Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry
- PPP’s Muhammad Ashraf Chughtai
- PTI’s Muhammad Akbar Chaudhry
- JI’s Muhammad Umer Siddique
LA 39 – Jammu VI
- PPP’s Chaudhry Fakhar Zaman
- PML-N’s Raja Muhamamd Siddique
- TLP’s Rashid Mehmood
- PTI’s Nazia Niaz
LA 40 – Kashmir Valley I
- PSP’s Shabir Ahmed Khan
- PML-N’s Tahir Ali Wani
- PPP’s Amir Abdul Ghaffar Lone
- PTI’s Muhammad Saleem Butt
LA 41 – Kashmir Valley II
- PPP’s Shabbir Abbas Mir
- PTI’s Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Dewan
- PML-N’s Muhammad Ikram Butt
- All J&K MC’s Syed Maqsood Gillani
LA 42 – Kashmir Valley III
- PPP’s Hafeez Ahmed Butt
- All J&K MC’s Rana Sarfaraz Ahmed
- JI’s Saeed Ahmed Khan
- PML-N’s Syed Shoukat Ali Shah
- PTI’s Muhammad Asif Sharif
LA 43 – Kashmir Valley IV
- PTI’s Javed Butt
- PPP’s Hamza Majid Bazmi
- PML-N’s Naseema Khatoon
LA 44 – Kashmir Valley V
- PTI’s Bashir Ahmed Khan
- PML-N’s Muhammad Ahmed Raza Qadri
- PPP’s Muhammad Rashid Aslam
- TLP’s Naseerullah Khan Durrani
LA 45 – Kashmir Valley VI
- IND Ahmed Mushahid Mushtaq
- IND Abdul Nasir Khan
- PTI’s Abdul Majid Khan
- JI’s Noor-ul-Bari
