Bilawal alleges rigging in AJK polls, claims PPP has secured majority

MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday claimed his party had already secured a majority in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections regardless of the final vote count, alleging widespread electoral irregularities and vowing to challenge the results through constitutional and democratic means.

Addressing a workers’ convention in Muzaffarabad, Bilawal said the PPP stood with the government on issues of national interest but would not support policies that, in his view, placed the interests of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) above those of the country.

“I urge Pakistan to open its eyes. Look at what has happened to the country in the name of the PML-N. Look at what is being done to Kashmir,” Bilawal said, adding that the state must decide whether safeguarding the national interest or protecting the interests of a political party should take precedence.

The PPP chairman alleged that authorities were attempting to portray the electoral process as democratic despite what he described as violence and serious irregularities. He claimed that around 30 polling stations had been taken over, alleged that a PPP worker was killed during polling, and said he possessed video evidence of electoral rigging.

“If there is ballot stuffing at dozens of polling stations, firing incidents and internet shutdowns across Kashmir, then it will not look like Azad Kashmir,” he said. “We will never let Azad Kashmir become ‘occupied’ Kashmir.”

Bilawal said the PPP would not allow its public mandate to be stolen, questioning how senior party leader Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin could win in an urban constituency but lose in his ancestral constituency. Congratulating the party’s successful candidates, he maintained that the PPP had emerged as the majority party regardless of the official vote tally.

“No matter what the final vote count says, the PPP has already won the majority,” he said. “We will neither back down nor bow to anyone. We will reclaim 100% of our seats.”

He further argued that genuinely free, fair and transparent elections should have been held in AJK before similar elections elsewhere in Pakistan. Bilawal alleged that the pattern of electoral manipulation was not new, saying the PPP had remained silent in the past in the interest of national unity but could no longer ignore what it viewed as repeated interference in the democratic process.

The PPP chairman also questioned whether the people of Kashmir were unaware of the developments, saying they were closely observing the situation. He alleged that prioritising the interests of the PML-N over the national interest was not a new practice and said the PPP had repeatedly expressed concerns over previous elections.

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Paying tribute to voters in Mirpur, Bilawal thanked the public for participating enthusiastically in the electoral process, saying it was the people’s responsibility to vote for the PPP while it was the party’s duty to protect every vote cast in its favour.

He added that the PPP had always made sacrifices for democracy and would continue defending the public mandate.

Referring to recent unrest in AJK, Bilawal said the situation could have been resolved peacefully. He argued that, irrespective of the allegations surrounding the protests, “it was 100% possible for the prime minister to resolve it without danger or violence.”

Calling for accountability, Bilawal demanded an investigation into the reported incidents of firing and killings during the elections and urged the formation of an independent commission to examine both the alleged irregularities and the broader law and order situation.

He also said the election of the President of Azad Kashmir should be conducted strictly in accordance with the Constitution and reiterated the PPP’s demand to be awarded what it considers its rightful seats.