Tehreek-e-Insaf wins Hangu by-election

HANGU - PTI’s candidate Dr Nadeem Khayal on Sunday won by-election in the NA-33 constituency of Hangu, according to unofficial, preliminary results.

The development was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Election Commission of Pakistan. According to unofficial and unconfirmed results from all polling stations in NA-33 Hangu, PTI candidate Nadeem Khayal secured 21,583 votes. It may be noted that in 2018, PTI won the seat with a lead of 800 votes and in 2022 by-polls, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf grabbed the seat with a lead of almost 4,500 votes. Preliminary results from all 210 polling stations showed that JUI-F’s Ubaidullah stood second by securing 18,244, Saeed Umar of the ANP bagged 3,314 votes, while independent candidates Ateeq Ahmed and Muhammad secured 256 and 25 votes, respectively.

The seat had fallen vacant after the demise of PTI MNA Haji Khayal after which the PTI issued a ticket to his son, Nadeem Khayal, to contest the polls. The polling began at 8 am with around 4,500 cops deployed in the area to avert any untoward incident and continued uninterrupted till 5pm. A fierce contest was expected between PTI, JUI-F and ANP for the National Assembly seat in Hangu, but the PTI attained success. Hangu District Police Officer Ikramullah said while talking to the media that the security arrangements had been finalised prior to the polls by the ECP to hold a peaceful and transparent by-poll.

| JUI-F’s Ubaidullah bags 18,244 votes, Saeed Umar of ANP secures 3,314 votes

Seat had fallen vacant after demise of PTI MNA Haji Khayal

The Quick Response Force and Rapid Response Force personnel, patrolled across the constituency during the polling process, while the Frontier Reserve Police remained on standby at the police lines to cope with any emergency. Over 0.314 million people exercised their right to vote and five candidates contested the by-election in NA-33. A spokesperson of the ECP had earlier said 210 polling stations, including 55 for women only and 91 combined for both men and women, had been set up for the poll. According to the official, 110 of these polling stations were declared sensitive while 77 had been declared highly sensitive.

A control room had also been set up at the office of the Provincial Election Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to monitor the by-election. The chief election commissioner had appealed to voters to exercise their right to vote without any fear, saying that no interference in the polling process will be tolerated and immediate action will be taken against any violation.

 

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