Polling on LA-30 Jammu and LA-36 Kashmir Valley-I of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly seats has begun here Wednesday.

The Election Commission has completed all arrangements while police and Rangers have been deployed at sensitive polling stations.

Tahir Khokhar of MQM and Abdul Rashid of PML-N will contest each other on LA- 30 seat. The contestants from PPP and Muslim Conference had earlier announced their withdrawal from both the constituencies in favour of the MQM.

In Karachi, 73 polling stations have been set up for the LA-30 seat.

Salim But of MQM is contesting in LA-36 where PPP and Muslim Conference had already stepped for MQM.

Twenty-five polling stations have been set up in LA-36 constituency while the stationary to be used in the polling has been delivered to the polling stations.

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday in response to a petition filed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said that it will take any decision after the result of Azad Kashmir High court as they came under the election commission’s jurisdiction.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the MQM against alleged government interference in and the deferment of elections for the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly seats in Karachi.

The petition was heard by justice Athar saeed and justice Aqeel Ahmed abbasi. Petitioner Saleem Butt, a serving member of the AJK Legislative Assembly belonging to the MQM, appeared in court with his lawyer Barrister Farogh Naseem.

The court has also summoned the copy of a similar petition filed by the MQM in Muzaffarabad High Court.

The hearing has been adjourned till July 1.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has secured majority in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly by securing 19 seats in elections on Sunday.

According to unofficial results of 34 seats so far, Pakistan Muslim League (N) stood at second position by grabbing nine seats, Muslim Conference got third position with four seats besides two independents.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate and former Prime Minister AJK Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry from LA-3 (City Mirpur-III) and President PPP AJK Chaudhry Abdul Majeed LA-2 (Chakswari Mirpur-II) have won their seats.

Among the other PPP winners were Afsar Shahid LA-1 (Dadayal Mirpur-I), Syed Azhar Hussain Gillani (LA 39, Valley-4), Sardar Yaqoob (LA 19 Rawalakot-3), Afsar Shahid (LA-39, Valley-4), Chaudhry Akbar Ibraheem (LA-34 Jammu-Gujarat), Abdul Salam Butt (LA-40, Valley-5) Sardar Qamar Zaman (LA-14, Bagh-II), Chaudhry Abdul Majeed (LA-2,Mirpur), Sardar Ghulam Sadiq (LA-18, Ponch-II) and Mian Abdul Waheed (LA-23, Neelum-1) Mutloob Inqalabi and some others.

President Muslim Conference Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan (LA-13, Bagh-1) and central PML(N) AJK Raja Farooq Haider also won their seats.

The result of one constituency from district Bagh has been held.