According to sources on Monday, a gathering has taken place in Dhirk, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where participants are reportedly attempting to march forward.
The sources alleged that the group is armed and is seeking to disrupt the election process.
According to the sources, the group aims to provoke violence and create casualties on the instructions of “foreign handlers.”
State sources said that the government will not yield to such attempts and that the election process will continue as planned.
They added that the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) want the elections to proceed and have rejected what they described as the disruptive banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) movement.
First phase of AJK general elections begins
Polling for the first phase of the AJK Legislative Assembly elections began today, Monday, across 13 constituencies in the Mirpur Division.
More than 1.4 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots in this election.
According to the Election Commission, a total of 1,401,439 registered male and female voters are eligible to vote.
Polling is being held in six constituencies of Kotli, three in Bhimber and four in Mirpur, according to the reports.
Kotli has the highest number of voters, with around 647,000 registered voters across six constituencies.
Bhimber has about 342,000 voters in its three constituencies. And Mirpur has nearly 411,000 voters across the four constituencies.
A total of 296 candidates are contesting the elections, including 135 from Kotli, 63 from Bhimber and 98 from Mirpur.
In addition to this, major political parties in the race include the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) AJK, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) AJK, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and several other political groups.
Previously, AJK Chief Secretary Khushal Khan had announced that the election process of the AJK Legislative Assembly will officially commence on 27 July in accordance with the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference alongside the Election Commission Secretary, the Chief Secretary said all election arrangements have been finalised. Adding that the polling materials have been delivered to the Returning Officers (ROs).
