MIRPUR (AJK)-About 21 candidates are in the run for election to the eight reserved seats of Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly to be held on July 29, the AJK Election Commission sources informed on Tuesday.
The reserved seats include five seats meant for the women and one each for religious scholars, overseas Kashmiris and the technocrats.
Nomination papers to the eight reserved seats of the 49-seat AJK Legislative Assembly have so far been filed with the Election Commission by the stipulated time on July 25, AJK EC Secretary Mian Naeem Ullah told this Correspondent on Tuesday.
Elaborating, he said 14 candidates have filed nomination papers for five seats reserved for the women, two candidates for one Ulema and Mashaikh seat, three candidates are in the run for one seat meant for technocrats and two candidates have filed nomination papers for one seat reserved for Overseas Kashmiris.
The AJK EC secretary said that nomination papers could be withdrawn till July 28. The reserved seats will be filled in by the electoral college comprising all 41 newly-elected members of the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly through secret ballot to be held in the State Legislative Assembly complex in Muzaffarabad, another official source said.
According to the official results, the PML-N has won 32 seats, the PPP and Muslim Conference three seats each, the PTI two seats and a seat is won by independent candidate on directly-contested elections to all 41 seats of the AJK Legislative Assembly, held on July 21.
The candidates who filed their nomination papers included those belonging to the top victorious PML-N in recent AJK general elections, besides some of others belonging to other parties including MC, PPP and PTI, who won few of seats in the recent elections.
It may be added that the PML-N AJK, which has emerged as the single largest party in 49-seat AJK Legislative assembly, might win at least seven out of eight reserved seats in the elections as long as the minimum votes are required by a candidate to win the election to the reserved seats under the constitution - interim Act 1974 of AJK.