843 candidates remain in contest for AJK assembly polls after withdrawals

MUZAFFARABAD: A total of 843 candidates are in the running for the upcoming Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections following the completion of the nomination withdrawal process, according to the AJK Election Commission.

AJK Election Commission Secretary Raja Muhammad Shakeel said 1,265 nomination papers had originally been submitted. After duplicate and multiple papers filed by the same contenders were removed, the number of valid nominations stood at 1,225. He said 382 candidates withdrew their papers by the July 4 deadline, leaving 843 contestants in the field.

District-wise breakdown

According to the figures shared by the election authorities, 98 candidates are contesting in the four constituencies of Mirpur district, while 63 are in the three constituencies of Bhimber district. In Kotli district’s six constituencies, 128 candidates remain in the race.

A total of 82 candidates are contesting across the four constituencies of Bagh and Haveli districts, while 126 candidates are in the field in the seven constituencies of Poonch and Sudhnoti districts. Neelum district’s two constituencies have 50 candidates, while Muzaffarabad district’s five constituencies account for 124 contestants. In Jhelum Valley district’s two constituencies, 34 candidates remain in the contest.

For the constituencies reserved for refugees, 82 candidates are contesting in six seats reserved for refugees from Jammu, while 56 are in the race for six constituencies reserved for refugees from the Kashmir Valley.

Comparison with previous election

In the 2021 general elections, 708 candidates had remained in the field after the withdrawal stage, making the number for the current polls higher than the previous election cycle.

Election symbols allotted

Raja Muhammad Shakeel said election symbols were allotted on Monday to candidates backed by 26 registered political parties as well as independent contenders.

Among the main parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party was assigned the arrow, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz received the tiger, the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party was allotted the eagle, Jamaat-i-Islami received the balance, the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference got the horse, and the Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party was assigned the sword.