Rawalpindi: Election campaigning for the three Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly refugee seats in Rawalpindi for Valley 4, Valley 5, and Jammu 6 is in full swing following the release of the final candidate lists, prompting major political parties to aggressively increase their voter outreach programs.
According to the District Election Commissions Rawalpindi and Islamabad, a total of 34 candidates are contesting across these constituencies, with 12 candidates in the field for Valley 4, eight for Valley 5, and 14 are contesting for Jammu 6.
The electoral battle in Valley 4 is expected to see a tough contest among Javed Butt of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muhammad Yasin Lon of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Abdul Hameed Lon of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, and Hamza Majeed of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).
For the Valley 5 seat, eight candidates are in the run including Ahmed Raza Qadri of the PML-N, Muhammad Rashid Islam of the PPP and Hanif Manzoor Dar of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Meanwhile, the 14 candidates competing for Jammu 6 include Chaudhry Fakhar Zaman of the PPP, Raja Muhammad Siddique of the PML-N and Muhammad Tahir Khokhar of the IPP.
Political parties,including the PML-N, PPP, Muslim Conference, Jamaat-e-Islami and IPP, have fully activated their election offices across Rawalpindi. Candidates are vigorously engaging voters through corner meetings, door-to-door campaigns, and workers’ conventions to secure their support.
Political observers note that these three refugee seats in Rawalpindi hold extraordinary significance in the overall Azad Kashmir elections, and the political temperature is expected to rise further in the coming days.