NA-81 Gujranwala result: Recounting of votes lands in favour of PML-N's Azhar Qayyum

GUJRANWALA: The recounting of votes turned fruitful for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Azhar Qayyum Nahra as he won the National Assembly seat — NA-81 Gujranwala — with a lead of 3,201 votes, defeating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed candidate Chaudhry Bilal Ejaz.

The returning officer (RO) announced the NA-81 results after the recounting of votes, declaring PML-N’s Azhar victorious candidate with a lead of 3,201 votes.

Prior to this development, PTI-backed Bilal won the National Assembly seat by lead of 7,791 votes but his victory was challenged by PML-N’s Azhar.

Following a petition, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered recounting of votes in 75 polling stations.

Earlier, the top electoral body issued the notification of Khan Bahadar Doggar of the Nawaz-led party as the returned (winning) candidate from the constituency PP-100 who has succeeded after recounting the votes, The News reported.

From this constituency, the PTI-backed candidate Chaudhry Umair Wasi Zafar was declared the winner with a lead of about 4,000 votes and the notification of his success was issued.

However, on the application of the PML-N’s losing candidate, the commission ordered a recounting held on March 12 at the office of the Election Commission, Faisalabad. After recounting, the PML-N candidate secured more votes than the previous and was declared the winner.