Following the recent arrest of PTI Chairman, Imran Khan’s PTI has emerged victorious in Peshawar, Havelian, Abbottabad local government by-elections by defeating rival JUIF, ANP, PMLN & PPP.
According to the preliminary consolidated outcome across all 155 polling stations in Mathra, Inam Ullah of PTI garnered 20,333 votes, as reported by The News. This seat became vacant due to the passing of JUI-F’s tehsil chairman, Farid Ullah.
In contrast, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) led by Maulana Fazl ur Rehman faced defeat in the aforementioned constituencies. Their candidate, Rafiullah, failed to secure the chairmanship of the Mathra tehsil council, finishing second with 13,564 votes.
Among the other contenders, Iftikhar Ahmed of Jamat-e-Islami received 9,546 votes, Aziz Ghaffar of ANP obtained 2,721 votes, Ali Abbas of PPP garnered 5,377 votes, and Fazlullah of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secured 3,351 votes.
A total of 55,607 ballots were cast, resulting in a voter turnout of 26%.
Reports indicated that a scuffle caused a delay in announcing the results for the Havelian tehsil council. Ultimately, Uzair Sher Khan, an independent candidate, triumphed with 21,464 votes, according to the results from 134 polling stations. Iftikhar Khan of PTI secured 18,521 votes, while Talha Asif of PML-N received 14,892 votes.
Stringent security measures were implemented for the by-elections in the two tehsil councils. Extensive police presence was observed at polling stations and across the constituencies to ensure a peaceful electoral process. The City Police Chief, Ashfaq Anwar, and other officials visited polling stations to oversee security arrangements.
For the Mathra tehsil, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) set up 155 polling stations with 496 booths to accommodate 218,630 voters. Of these, 84 stations were designated as highly sensitive and 57 as sensitive.
In the Havelian tehsil, 134 polling stations with 392 booths were arranged for 165,800 voters. Among these, 40 stations were marked as highly sensitive, and 25 as sensitive. Prominent contenders in Havelian included independent candidate Uzair Sher Khan, Iftikhar Khan of PTI, and Talha Asif of PML-N.
To uphold the code of conduct, the ECP prohibited any rallies or project inaugurations by public officeholders in areas undergoing elections.
Celebrating PTI’s triumph in the by-elections, party leader Asad Umar took to X (formerly known as Twitter), stating, “The notable aspect of yesterday’s Mathra tehsil election victory is that Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s candidate, Inam, is a dedicated party worker and trained by the Insaf Students Federation (ISF). Ideology prevailed over those who spent vast sums.”
