Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have announced their candidates for the 2026 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections, setting the stage for an intense political contest across the region.
PTI said it would prioritize young and ideological workers over traditional electables, while PPP released a list of 35 candidates covering constituencies across Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Bagh, Poonch, Muzaffarabad.
PTI fields 33 candidates
PTI Azad Kashmir announced that it has issued party tickets to 33 candidates for the upcoming elections.
According to the party, the PTI Azad Kashmir leadership decided to field young and ideological workers instead of relying on traditional electables. The recommendations of the Parliamentary Board were sent by PTI Azad Kashmir President Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi to party Chairman Barrister Gohar for approval.
Final candidate list due on July 2
The Parliamentary Board approved candidates for 31 constituencies after extensive consultations.
However, the party deferred its decision on the candidates for two constituencies — Lachhrat and Mirpur City. PTI Chairman Barrister Gauhar said the party's final list of candidates will be issued on July 2.
Among the announced nominees, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi will contest from LA-18 Abbaspur. Other candidates include Khawaja Farooq Ahmed (Muzaffarabad City), Mir Atiq-ur-Rehman (Katla), Zeeshan Haider (Chakar), Ansar Pirzada (Leepa), Chaudhry Ghulam Rabbani (Dadial), Chaudhry Zafar Anwar (Chakswari), Chaudhry Hameed (Pothi Khadri Sharif), Chaudhry Asif (Bhimber City) and Tayyab Iftikhar Hussain (Barnala).
PPP announces 35 candidates
The Pakistan Peoples Party also unveiled its candidates for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections.
According to the party, nominees have been selected for constituencies across Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli, Bagh, Sidhanoti, Poonch, Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad, Jammu Muhajir and Valley seats.
Candidates across divisions
In the Mirpur division, PPP nominated Afsar Shahid (LA-1 Mirpur-1), Qasim Majeed (LA-2 Mirpur-2 Chakswari), Yasir Sultan (LA-3 Mirpur City), Chaudhry Sohaib Arshad (LA-4 Khari Sharif) and Chaudhry Pervez Ashraf (LA-5 Bhimber-1 Barnala).
For the Kotli division, Malik Zafar will contest from LA-8, Javed Iqbal Bhadhanvi from LA-9, Chaudhry Yasin from LA-10 and LA-12, while Chaudhry Akhlaq has been nominated from LA-11.
The party also announced Sardar Qamar Zaman, Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, Sardar Amjad Yousaf, Sardar Saud Sadiq, Sardar Yaqoob, Sardar Muhammad Abid Khan and Sardar Fahim Akhtar Rabbani for constituencies in Bagh, Sidhanoti and Poonch.
For Neelum Valley and Muzaffarabad, tickets were awarded to Mian Abdul Waheed, Sardar Javed Ayub, Syed Bazal Naqvi, Sardar Mukhtar Ahmed Khan, Mubashar Munir Awan, Ashfaq Zafar and Diwan Ali Chughtai.
PPP also nominated Col (retd) Qadeer Chauhan, Chaudhry Asif Gujjar, Chaudhry Ahsan Ismail Gujjar, Shaheen Kausar Dar, Raja Shahid Iqbal Advocate and Chaudhry Fakhar Zaman for Jammu Muhajir seats.
For Valley seats, the party named Aamir Abdul Ghaffar Lone, Ghulam Abbas Mir, Javed Butt, Muhammad Rashid Islam Butt and Abdul Majeed Khan as its candidates.
