‘Pak Military’s New Low’: Decoding Gilgit-Baltistan’s ‘Worst-Ever Poll Rigging’ | Exclusive

Published 8 June 2026 · india

‘Pak Military’s New Low’: Decoding Gilgit-Baltistan’s ‘Worst-Ever Poll Rigging’ | Exclusive Reported By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 14:47 IST Pakistan military’s Gilgit-Baltistan ‘poll position’ sparks row: Indian intelligence sources say Pak security establishment cannot afford an autonomous local government in region Rapid Read Previous elections have generally been won by the party in power at the federal level in Islamabad. (ANI File for representation) Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly that concluded on Sunday is facing allegations of large-scale electoral manipulation. Leading candidates are reportedly losing their seats through the manipulation of Form-47 results, according to contestants from both Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN). PTI has strongly condemned what it calls the “worst election rigging and a new low" and direct military involvement in the electoral process. CNN-News18 had reported on Pakistan military’s “electoral engineering" strategy last week. The allegations According to a list issued by the authorities, 1,391 polling stations were set up across the Gilgit-Baltistan region, of which 551 were categorised as highly sensitive. The assembly has 33 seats, of which 24 are filled through direct elections and the remaining seats are reserved for women, technocrats and professionals.

Previous elections have generally been won by the party in power at the federal level in Islamabad. Leaders of Imran Khan’s PTI have alleged unusually high voter turnouts after 7 pm in several constituencies, describing the late surge as suspicious and indicative of organised rigging. They claimed that this pattern, coupled with alleged tampering of official result documents, has undermined the credibility of the polls. The controversy deepened after reports that PTI polling agents were denied access to Form 45 and Form 46, documents critical for verifying vote counts at the polling station level. PTI says this denial constitutes a violation of election law and has fuelled fears of systematic result manipulation. In one reported incident from the Nagar constituency, workers from an opposing party were allegedly caught “red-handed" with fake ballot papers, further intensifying accusations of fraud. PTI has also levelled charges of pre-poll rigging, citing altered voter lists, boundary changes and delimitation adjustments that they say were designed to influence outcomes in key seats. ‘There will be serious consequences’ Khan’s party has warned of “serious consequences" if the final results are tampered with, vowing to mount legal challenges and democratic resistance.