NA-39 re-polling: Gulab Jamal maintains lead

KALAYA: Member National Assembly (MNA) Ghazai Gulab Jamal maintained his lead by securing 554 votes in the re-polling in NA-39 on Sunday.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Syed Jawad Hussain had filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) after the general elections in 2013, seeking re-polling at polling stations 12 and 13. The PHC had ordered re-polling.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan also upheld the PHC verdict on re-polling. He had stated in his application that the counting and voting procedure was against the standard set by the Election Commission of Pakistan and re-polling should be conducted on these polling stations.The re-polling was held at the Government High School Muhammad Khwaja in Togh Sarai for the internally displaced persons of the Orakzai Agency.

According to the unofficial results, Ghazi Gulab Jamal secured 554 votes, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s candidate got three votes while the PPP candidate secured only two votes. In the general elections, Ghazi Gulab Jamal had got 9700 votes while Syed Jawad Hussain had secured 9506. Around 6125 voters were registered at these two polling stations before the general elections.

However, 700 families have been sent back to their homes in Orakzai Agency and now around 350 families are camped at the Togh Sarai Camp. Only three candidates contested in the re-polling while 36 candidates had been in the run for the NA-39 in the general elections. Strict security arrangements were made for the re-polling.