The Opposition parties have bagged three out of four mayoral seats in Khyber Pakhtunkwa’s ongoing local body elections, while the ruling PTI is in danger of losing the fourth one as well, according to unofficial results.
Awami National Party’s (ANP) Himayatullah Ma’ayar has been elected as the mayor in Mardan, JUI-F’s Sher Zaman has been elected from Kohat, while another JUI-F candidate Zubair Ali has emerged victorious in Peshawar, according to unofficial results.
In Peshawar, JUI-F’s candidate bagged 62,388 votes and won with a margin of over 10,000 votes, as PTI’s Muhammad Rizwan Bangash, who was the runner-up, amassed 50,659 votes.
The counting of votes in Bannu is still underway.
There are five city councils in the province, however, the elections are taking place only on four as the polls in Dera Ismail Khan were postponed after ANP’s candidate for mayor, Umar Khittab Sherani was shot dead.
In the 64 tehsil council unofficial results obtained so far, the JUI-F has emerged victorious in 14 tehsil council seats while the PTI has won in 10.
Independent candidates have won eight, ANP six, PML-N three, Jamaat-e-Islami two, and Tehreek-e-Istiqlal in the tehsil council elections.
Earlier, the candidates of the opposition parties managed to defeat the ruling party nominees in most areas, including the provincial capital of KP. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has faced a setback in the local government elections held in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Monday.
The elections were held in 17 districts, comprising 64 tehsils, on a party-basis as per the ruling of the courts. Out of 64 tehsils, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) headed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman is leading on 18 tehsil chairperson seats, whereas the PTI is trailing behind with 14 seats.
It is pertinent to note that the local bodies elections were held for the first time after the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into the province in 2017.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Islehat managed to grab two seats each.
The Awami National Party (ANP) also managed to win nine seats. Independent candidates have bagged nine tehsil chairperson seats as well, the results suggested.
In Peshawar, the PTI also lost the mayor seat to the JUI-F with a wide margin. JUI-F’s Zubair Ali secured 63,388 votes whereas PTI’s Rizwan Bangash secured 50,659 votes.
PTI seeks vote recount in Peshawar
PTI has decided to challenge the results of Peshawar mayor election after losing to JUI-F with a wide margin.
PTI’s Peshawar chapter spokesperson Rahat Akbar Mughal said in a statement on Monday that the party will file an application for a vote recount, claiming that the number of rejected votes of PTI exceeded the victory margin of JUI-F candidate.
Referring to a viral video clip, the PTI spokesperson alleged that the rival candidate poured Rs20 million into the elections to win the mayorship of the provincial capital.
Those who lured villagers and neighbourhood councillors with money should be held accountable, he added.
He further claimed that the polling process at women’s polling stations was deliberately slowed down and the polling staff was also offered bribes.
The local bodies elections were held for the first time after the merger of erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into the province in 2017.
Out of seven tehsils in Peshawar, the PTI could only win one seat, while the JUI-F and ANP grabbed three and two seats, respectively.
In Bannu, the PTI candidate is in the lead on the mayoral seat. It has also secured the tehsil chairperson slots in Buner, Kagara, Daggar, Gambat and Rustam.
In Mardan, the PTI was wiped out; the JUI-F secured victory in three tehsils and the ANP came in first in two tehsils.
In Lakki Marwat’s tehsil Nowrang, JI candidate Haji Aziz got over 17,000 votes to secure the seat for his party.
In Charsada, JUI-F’s Hamza Asif secured over 33,000 votes to win the tehsil chairperson slot in Shabqadar. In Tank, the JUI-F secured a win in both tehsils.
