PPP, PML-N trade rigging allegations as violence mars AJK polls

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's two ruling coalition partners, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), traded allegations of rigging and political violence on Sunday as polling for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly was overshadowed by the killing of a PPP worker in Kotli.

The PPP claimed that 35-year-old party worker Mukhtar Younus was shot dead during polling in Nikyal, Kotli, while several other workers were injured.

Condemning the incident, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed grief over the killing, while Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani alleged that the firing was carried out by supporters of a PML-N candidate.

Addressing a joint press conference, Ghani said the election campaign had been marred by repeated violations of the code of conduct, accusing the Election Commission of failing to ensure a level playing field.

"The way this election campaign was conducted, the result is that bullets are being fired today. Our workers are dying," he said.

Ghani also accused the Punjab government of attempting to influence voters by announcing public buses for AJK during the election campaign, describing the move as an effort to sway the electorate rather than a genuine public welfare initiative.

He further criticised remarks by PML-N President Nawaz Sharif comparing Kashmir with Kashmore and Mirpur with Mirpur Khas, saying the comments had offended the people of Sindh and reinforced perceptions that the PML-N lacked a truly national outlook.

The PPP leader said that, if the elections were conducted fairly, the results would resemble those witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Responding to the allegations, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari accused the PPP of engaging in electoral malpractice and asserted that the PML-N was contesting the elections on the basis of its governance record.

During a press conference in Lahore, she claimed that PML-N representatives had recovered bags allegedly containing ballot papers from the residence of a PPP candidate in Kotli and alleged that bogus votes were being used to influence the election.

"Yesterday they said they would not let rigging happen. Today they are rigging," she alleged.

Rejecting criticism over the Punjab government's announcement of buses for AJK, Bokhari maintained that the vehicles had not yet begun operations and questioned why parties criticising the initiative had failed to provide similar public transport facilities in provinces under their own rule.

She said voters in the Mirpur division were participating in the elections despite boycott calls and were looking towards development initiatives similar to those introduced in Punjab, including electric buses, scholarships, the Apni Chhat Apna Ghar housing programme, Asaan Karobar Finance and youth skills training under the Parwaz Card initiative.

Bokhari also defended Nawaz Sharif against criticism over his involvement in AJK politics, saying the former prime minister did not require any official position to contribute to the region's development and remained committed to serving the people of Kashmir.

She urged political parties to compete on the basis of governance, performance and manifestos rather than personal attacks and allegations.