PTI-backed Gustasab insists on his win

MANSEHRA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed contestant Shahzada Gustasab Khan on Monday insisted that he had scored a victory against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supreme leader Nawaz Sharif in NA-15, Mansehra.

“Nawaz Sharif has lost the election to me with a margin of over 25,000 votes, and even then he is not accepting his defeat. I am ready to confront him again in this constituency,” he said while speaking at a presser here.

Gustasab alleged that the District Returning Officer, who is also deputy commissioner of Mansehra, was pressurising the Returning Officer for NA-15, Hajrah Samee, to get desired results.

But Gustasab said he saluted her, saying she was a brave woman who offered to keep away from her office for the last three to four days but didn’t surrender to what he believed were unjustified tactics.

He accused Captain ® Muhammad Safdar, the son-in-law of Nawaz Sharif, of feeding him (PMLN supremo) disinformation. Gustasab said he was ready for fresh elections in NA-15 if he (Nawaz Sharif) did not accept his defeat.

He said he had served the province five times in the past as minister and once as opposition leader. “I proudly say people voted for me as an indigenous PTI worker and tactics to steal this seat, which I have already won with a convincing margin, is not an easy task as national and foreign media is constantly monitoring the situation being unfolded here,” Gustasab said.

He said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader, Mufti Kifayatullah, who stood third in the NA-15 election’s race had wholeheartedly accepted his defeat and congratulated him publicly. “Nawaz Sharif, who is acclaimed as the champion of democracy, should follow suit,” he suggested.