PTI has won the LA-16 Bagh 3 seat of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, whose results were withheld for re-polling on four polling stations, after clashes brought polling to a halt on July 25, a private TV channel reported.
According to unofficial results, after the polling, PTI candidate Sardar Mir Akbar bagged 23,561 votes, whereas PPP’s Sardar Qamaruz Zaman obtained 23,267 votes – a difference of a mere 294 votes. Of the total 939 votes cast by government employees, PTI received 396, whereas PPP got 421.
In the July 25 polling exercise, voting was held in 163 of 167 polling stations, in which the PTI candidate was already in the lead, receiving 22,503 votes, while the PPP candidate got 22,307.
All four polling stations were declared by the district administration as highly sensitive owing to which stringent security arrangements had been made for re-polling. This included the deployment of 400 police officers and commandos.
In the polls on July 25, PTI emerged as the largest winner with 25 seats, PPP came in second place with 11, while PML-N won six seats. Now, with this latest victory, PTI will have 26 seats in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.