PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto to join protest against rigged Gilgit-Baltistan polls

Shortly after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI) took the initial lead in Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly election, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced that the election “has been stolen” and that he will be shortly joining a protest in the illegally occupied region.

“My election has been stolen. I will be joining the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in their protest shortly,” Bilawal Bhutto said in a tweet.

Khan’s PTI is leading with nine seats while PPP secured three seats. There are 24 seats up for the grabs but polling on one seat was postponed.

Meanwhile, India has slammed Islamabad for its decision to hold elections in the illegally occupied region of Gilgit-Baltistan, saying that any action to alter the status of the region has no legal basis.

Earlier this year, the Pakistan Supreme Court allowed Islamabad to amend a 2018 administrative order to conduct general elections in the region. After the verdict, India issued a demarche to Pakistani officials in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over the apex court ruling.

India also conveyed to Pakistan that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country.