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All set for AJK elections on Sunday
MUZAFFARABAD: All is set to hold the polling for Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections on Sunday while the canvassing will come to an end by 12 mid night today (Friday).Various political parties and independent candidates intensified their campaign by holding corner meetings and going door to door to woo the voters.
Party flags and posters are hanging in every nook and corner of the AJK, replacing most of the billboards and signboards.
Vehicles, houses, shops, plazas, electricity poles, bridges, streetlight poles, trees and buildings in residential areas have been adorned by party flags and posters as political parties try to catch the public eye.
Friday was the last day of election campaign. All the 421candidates spent a hectic day canvassing the voters. Polling for 41 of the 49 assembly seats will be held on Sunday. Eight seats are reserved for women and technocrats.
Some political parties and independent candidates, however, complained that a lack of funding hampered their election campaign, but many candidates from various parties could be seen on posters.
According to the Election Commission (EC) of Azad Kashmir 113 contestants are running for the 12 constituencies spreading over four provinces of Pakistan, reserved for refugees and other Kashmiris. While the total number of candidates contesting from 29 constituencies located in Azad Kashmir is 308.
Unlike previous polls, the elections do not seem to be an electoral duel between two mainstream parties - the Muslim Conference and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Many observers say that the newly launched Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in AJK, which mainly consists of Muslim Conference dissidents, has converted the electoral fray into a three-way fight.
According to the final list issued by EC the total number of voters is 3,017,816. Some 5,559 polling stations have been set up with 6,448 booths. As many as 4,351 presiding officers, 6,448 polling officers and 12,896 polling assistants have been appointed to supervise the polling.
Courtesy www.geo.tv