LAHORE - Major political forces of Punjab, PML-N, PPP and PML-Q have tightened their belts for an electoral battle on June 26 in nine constituencies of Azad Jammu Kashmir, which fall in Punjab in a bid to reach the throne of Muzaffarabad. It is to be mentioned here, direct elections will be held on 41 seats of Azad Jammu Kashmir Legislative Assembly (AJKLA) of which 12 fall in Pakistan as the share of refugees of Jammu and Kashmir Valley settled in Pakistan. Of total 12 AJKLA seats in Pakistan, nine fall in Punjab, two in Sindh and one in Khyber-Pukhtunkhawa. Six of the seats in Pakistan are the share of refugees of Occupied Jammu, while another six allocated to the refugees of Held Kashmir Valley. The reserve seats of AJKLA include five seats for women, one for overseas Pakistanis, one for technocrat and the last for ulema and mashaikh. More than 30 candidates are running for nine seats of Punjab, which are the share of refugees of Jammu and Kashmir Valley settled in Pakistan, while five of the seats in Punjab fixed for refugees of Jammu and the remaining four are the share of refugees of the Valley. It is learnt that PML-Q according to an understanding with PPP fielded only one candidate from Gujrat and on rest of the AJKLA seats in Punjab it would back the PPP candidates. The record available with The Nation regarding the constituencies of AJKLA in Punjab and the vicinities covering the seats include LA-31 (Jammu-2) with suburban areas of Gujranwala and district Pasrur. Another Jammu seat LA-32 (Jammu-3) spreads over the district Sialkot, which is considered to be the largest Jammu refugees belt, while LA-33 (Jammu-4) covers district Narowal and its tehsil Shakargarh, which is also heavily populated with the inhabitants of Jammu refugees. Yet another seat of Jammu LA-34 (Jammu-5) lies in district Gujrat, while LA-35 (Jammu-6) covers suburban areas of Rawalpindi, districts of Chakwal and Attock. The seats of the Valley include LA-37 (Valley-2) covering the provincial capital, district Lahore and district Sheikupura, while LA-38 (Valley-3) has its voters in districts of Jhang, Multan, Jehlum, Faisalabad and some areas of Gujranwala. Another seat of the Valley, LA-39 (Valley-4) covers half of the Rawalpindi city and some of nearby towns and surroundings. The last seat of AJKLA and Valley in Punjab is LA-40 (Valley-5) with its voters in Murree and another half of the Rawalpindi city. The information regarding candidates running for nine seats of AJKLA in Punjab says that PML-N, PPP and Muslim Conference fielded Chaudhry Muhammad Ismail, Chaudhry Maqbool and Waheed-ul-Haq Kashmiri for LA-31 (Jammu-2). Shaukat Wazir Ali, Chaudhry Muhammad Ishaq and Hafiz Hamid Raza are the contenders of PPP, PML-N and Muslim Conference respectively for LA-32 (Jammu-3). The front runners in LA-33 (Jammu-4) include Siddique Batli of PPP, Begum Shamim Rasheed of PML-N and Mian Munawar Sharif of Muslim Conference. While LA-34 (Jammu-5) is the only constituency in which PML-Q fielded its candidate namely Akbar Ibrahim who is supported by PPP and Muslim Conference and PML-N fielded Haji Javed Akhtar. In LA-35 (Jammu-6) Amin Chugtai is the candidate of PPP, who is supported by PML-Q and Muslim Conference, while Raja Muhammad Siddique is the candidate of PML-N. Khawaja Bashir Ahmed, Ghulam Abbas Mir, Ghulam Mohiyuddin Deewan are the candidates of Muslim Conference, PML-N and PPP respectively from LA-37 (Valley-2), while MQM also fielded its candidate namely Abdul Shakoor Butt. In LA-38 (Valley-3) Shaukat Ali Shah, Pir Ahsan Shah and Malik Muhammad Amin are the contenders of PML-N, PPP and Muslim Conference respectively. Azhar Gilani, Zafar Ali Magray, Zaheer Qadri are the runners of PPP, PML-N and Muslim Conference from LA-39 (Valley-4) respectively. Abdusalam Butt and Mehr-un-Nisa are the candidates of PPP and Muslim Conference respectively from LA-40 (Valley-5) in the last seat of AJKLA in Punjab. A series of contacts of this scribe with local leaders of AJKLA constituencies in Punjab maintained that it seems, the PML-N being the new entrant, could grab major share in the AJKLA from Punjab, as the strong pockets of PML-N lies throughout the northern and central parts of the province. They further maintained that PML-N holds considerable influence in districts of Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Sheikhupura and Faisalabad, as the same would become the political battle fields on June 26. While, provincial capital, Lahore considered to be the unchallengeable ground of the PML-N. However, they added that Jhelum, Chakwal, Attock, and Jhang could be the strong wickets of PPP with the backing of PML-Qs meaningful presence in these districts. While in the case of Gujrat, the PML-Q wants to retain its traditional stronghold and it fielded its only candidate from the City. In the case of Multan, PPP expected to grab sizeable share of votes for AJKLA polls in Punjabs seats. However, they stated that upsets could also be expected in many of the districts due to the differences based on interest or ideology between the local cadres of PPP and PML-Q, which could benefit the PML-N.