According to unofficial results issued by the returning officer, PPP’s Sardar Zia Qamar bagged 25,755 votes while PML-N’s Mushtaq Ahmed Minhas emerged as the first runner-up after securing 20,485 votes.
Minhas, a journalist turned politician who had clinched victory in his maiden election in AJK in 2016, conceded defeat, and was seen in a picture embracing and greeting Qamar following the announcement of unofficial results. Later, Qamar said while speaking to media that “this victory is a reflection of people’s trust in a genuine and humble political worker who prefers to stay among them through thick and thin”. PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari congratulated Qamar on Twitter.
