Allies’ rift continues to widen as AJK polls enter 2nd phase

Why This Matters

Key context: <p><strong>• Multiple rounds of talks between PPP, PML-N leaders fail to defuse tensions<br>• Sanaullah questions Zardari’s election as president after PPP’s Form-47 jibe<br>• Saeed Ghani alleges PML-N govts came to power through rigging every time<br>• Sharif family meets at Jati Umra to take stock of ‘mounting’ political challenges</strong></p> <p>MUZAFFARABAD/LAHORE: Despite multiple rounds of talks between the PML-N and the PPP in Azad Jammu Kashmir, the tensions between the two allies over the results of the Mirpur elections did not subside, with leaders from both parties continuing to trade rigging allegations ahead of the second phase of the AJK elections.</p> <p>The second phase will be held today in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division and all 12 refugee constituencies.</p> <p>The PPP and the PML-N — coalition partners in the Centre — have been engaged in a war of words since the PML-N emerged victorious in Mirpur in the first phase of AJK elections.</p> <p>In the latest exchange, PML-N senior leader Rana Sanaullah remarked on President Asif Ali Zardari’s role as he responded to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s allegations of rigging in the 2024 general elections. Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s aide on political affairs, was addressing a gathering in Jhelum valley alongside Kashmir Affairs Minister Amir Muqam.</p> <p>“If you call the votes secured by the prime minister votes of Forms-47, then on what forms has the president gotten votes on?” Mr Sanaullah said.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- ' data-original-src='2083421552071381247'> <div class='media__item '><picture><img src='2083421552071381247' alt='' /></picture></div> </figure> <p>“If you say to Mian Nawaz Sharif that he became the prime minister for the first time or every time through rigging, […] then remember, it is also discussed here that someone also became the prime minister for the first time after breaking apart the country,” he said in reference to PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who became the president of Pakistan in December 1971 after the secession of then-East Pakistan following the 1970 elections.</p> <p>The PML-N stalwart also took a jibe at Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, whose recent remarks <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2019825">have sparked a fresh debate in political circles</a> on the matter of creating new provinces. Calling Mr Naqvi a “blessed one” of President Zardari, the PML-N leader said the interior minister had “made the [political] journey of 30 years in three-and-a-half years”. “You began from where and have now reached where, and now you realise that this system is completely dysfunctional.”</p> <p><strong>‘PML-N always rigged polls’</strong></p> <p>Earlier in the day, PPP leader Saeed Ghani alleged that the PML-N had never won a general election without rigging. This followed a press briefing by Punjab’s education and sports ministers, where they said that the chief ministers of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had nothing to show for their performance.</p> <p>Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Ghani said: “The PPP did not secure power through rigging in any of the elections held till today. On the other hand, the PML-N has never secured power without rigging.”</p> <p>The PPP leader alleged that the PML-N had come to power due to rigging in the 2024 polls. The PPP leader alleged that Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz “lost their own seats and then blame us”.</p> <p><strong>Talks to defuse tensions</strong></p> <p>To defuse the tensions, senior leaders of both parties met multiple times in Azad Kashmir over the weekend to “explore a legal resolution” to the dispute. The latest round of talks followed two earlier meetings on Thursday and Friday. Another round was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but could not be held as the PML-N leaders returned to Islamabad.</p> <p>A PML-N source told <em>Dawn</em> that discussions focused on the PPP’s allegations and its demand for re-polling in certain constituencies. “It was not planned or pre-planned rigging but isolated acts at places where supporters of one candidate enjoyed numerical dominance over their opponents. Such incidents have unfortunately been part of the territory’s polling atmosphere and have also been witnessed in previous elections,” the source quoted the PML-N leaders as telling their counterparts.</p> <p>According to the sources, the PPP initially raised objections to the results in four constituencies — Charhoi, Sehnsa and Nakyal in Kotli district, and Barnala in Bhimber district. However, it later withdrew its allegations regarding Sehnsa and Barnala. Saturday’s discussions centred on Charhoi, where PPP AJK president Chaudhry Yasin lost to PML-N’s Raja Riasat, and Nakyal, where PPP candidate Javed Iqbal Budhanvi was defeated by PML-N’s Raja Ayaz Ahmed.</p> <p><strong>Sharifs meet at Jati Umra</strong></p> <p>The Sharif family held discussions at Jati Umra. According to a statement issued by the PM’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held consultations with his elder brother and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif at Jati Umra to take stock of mounting political challenges, including the rift with the PPP over the AJK elections.</p> <p>A senior PML-N leader told <em>Dawn</em> that the party leadership had taken serious note of the PPP chairman’s increasingly combative rhetoric against the Sharif family over the AJK polls and his warning that the PPP could reconsider its support for the federal government if the remaining phases of the elections were manipulated in favour of the PML-N. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also attended the meeting.</p> <p><strong>JAAC proposal</strong></p> <p>Separately, the PPP chairman claimed that he received a positive response from the banned Joint Awami Action Committee to his letter proposing the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission. He welcomed the committee’s willingness to engage with the proposed commission, describing it as “a possible institutional path forward”, and noted that the proposal had also been endorsed by the AJK Legislative Assembly.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven media--tweet' data-original-src='https://x.com/BBhuttoZardari/status/2083576772243923022'> <div class='media__item media__item--twitter '><span> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/BBhuttoZardari/status/2083576772243923022"></a> </blockquote> </span></div> </figure> <p>Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he would study the committee’s proposals carefully before consulting AJK Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, who would, in turn, approach the federal government and other stakeholders “to seek their initial views and assess whether sufficient common ground exists to take a consensus proposal forward”.</p> <p><em>Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2026</em></p> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.