Mixed results as LG by-polls held peacefully in KP

PESHAWAR: Different political parties as well as independent candidates emerged successful in by-polls for various categories of neighbourhood and village councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.

The polling was held in 65 neighbourhood and village councils in 21 districts of KP where seats had fallen vacant.

The by-election was held for six neighbourhood and village councils in Peshawar, seven in Dera Ismail Khan, nine in Mardan and five each in Bannu and Charsadda and many other districts.

In Regi, Inayatullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) received 1,004 votes while Khan Wali of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received 658 votes for the general councillor seat.

In Nodeh Bala neighbourhood council-125, Peshawar, Kashif Ur Rehman of PTI got 810 votes while independent Muhammad Ismail was runner-up with 709 votes for the general seat.

In Badaber, Asad Ahmad of Awami National Party (ANP) secured 936 votes while Rafiullah of PTI got 552 votes.

In Garhi Fazl Khaliq, Badaber, Niaz Muhammad of PTI won the general seat with 352 votes against his namesake from ANP, who got 246 votes.

In Garhi Banat, Badaber, independent Zeeshan won the polls for the youth councilor.

Amjad Khan of PTI won the youth council slot in Garhi Banat-1, Badaber, against Saqib of ANP.

As many as 256 polling stations were set up for over 385,000 voters in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Out of these, 159 polling stations were declared the most sensitive and 84 were declared sensitive.

Strict security arrangements were made for the by-polls.

In Peshawar, senior police officers visited polling stations to inspect the security arrangements. The KP chief secretary, inspector general of police and secretary Home visited the Provincial Election Commission’s office and reviewed the arrangements for polling.

In Naway Killay in Lower Dir, Abdul Rahim of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 360 votes against 316 votes of Shakirullah of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) for the general seat.

In village council Chamba, Abbottabad, independent candidate Nisar Khan got 1,265 votes while another independent candidate Gulistan Khan polled 741 votes.

In village council-22 Merikhel Bara, Khyber, Wakil Khan of PTI got 255 votes and independent Ziaul Haq got 149 votes for the slot of peasant councilor.

In Landikotal, village council-II Charbagh, independent candidate Zalikha got 656 votes while Naheed of PTI got 434 votes.

In Haripur, the by-election for the one seat of general council in village council Mohri No 1 was held amid tight security.

According to unofficial results, the PTI-supported independent candidate Malik Shehzad emerged victorious.

The seat of general councilor had been lying vacant since March 27, 2022 after reported suicide by the then PTI’s village council chairman Naveed Ilyas.

The election for the seat of general council for village council Mohri No 1 was held in a peaceful manner with heavy deployment of police.

There were four candidates in the run and the election authorities had set up three polling stations for 3,589 voters of the village council.

According to unofficial results, Malik Shehzad, the independent candidate who was enjoying the support of PTI, won the election by bagging 956 votes.

Raja Shaukat, Mehmood Shah Kazmi and Amir Pervez, who all were contesting in independent capacity, could bag 577, 238 and 217 votes, respectively.

MINGORA: The by-polls for the three vacant seats for various village councils were held in a peaceful manner in Swat.

According to unofficial results, Abdur Rahman Khan of JUIF, Amjad Khan of PTI and independent candidate Shahid Iqbal were elected as councillors for Doghalgi in Matta tehsil, Barikot and Qalagay, respectively.

ALPURI: By-elections on the vacant seats of village councils were held peacefully.

Fazal Ahmad was elected as councillor for Village Council Malikkhel Kotkay while Maaz Khan won the seat in Choga. No woman voter cast her vote in Village Council Malikkhel Kotkay.

NOWSHERA: By-elections on the 11 vacant seats of village and neighbourhood councils were held in the district.

According to a notification issued by the deputy commissioner’s office, there were a total of 11 vacant seats in the three tehsils of Nowshera.

It said that seven seats had fallen vacant in Pabbi tehsil, three in Jehangira tehsil and one general seat was vacant in Nowshera tehsil.

According to the results, all candidates on the seven seats were elected unopposed, including Arshad Jamal was chosen as youth councillor for Taru Jabba Village Council, Abdur Rashid Mazdor Kissan councillor and Shayan minority councillor for Dag Ismailkhel, Noor Alam Khattak Speen Khan was elected youth councillor, Ali Ahmad for Amankot Village Council and Fatima Bibi was elected for Mohib Banda Village Council on women vacant seat. Faizullah was elected councillor on the general seat for Dagai Village council.

Similarly, Kamal Khan was elected unopposed as youth councillor for Meshak Village Council, Ijaz Ahmad elected councillor on minority seat for Ayub Village Council while Alamgir Khan elected as Kissan councillor for Ayubabad Village Council from Jehangira tehsil.

In Nowshera, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians backed candidate Abdul Aziz won the general councillor seat by polling 616 votes.