JUIF defeated in Mathra LG by-polls

PESHAWAR: Polling was held for the slot of chairman tehsil council Mathra in Peshawar and for the same slot of tehsil council Havelian, Abbotabad on Sunday in local government by-elections.

Reports said the result of the Havelian tehsil council delayed after a scuffle. But later on, according to the results of 134 polling stations in Havelian, independent candidate Uzair Sher Khan won the polls after he got 21464 votes while Iftikhar Khan of PTI got 18521 votes and Talha Asif of PMLN got 14892 votes.

The candidate of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) candidate could not win the chairmanship of the tehsil council Mathra and remained second by securing 13564 votes.

According to the provisional consolidated result from all the 155 polling stations in Mathra, Inam Ullah of PTI secured 20333 votes while Rafiullah of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl got 13564 votes. Among the other candidates, Iftikhar Ahmed of the JI for 9546 votes, Aziz Ghaffar of ANP got 2721 votes, Ali Abbas of PPP got 5377 votes and Fazlullah of the PMLN got 3351 votes.

As many as 55607 people cast their vote while the turn out remained 26 percent. The seat fell vacant after the death of tehsil chairman Farid Ullah of JUIF.

Extraordinary security measures were taken for by-polls in two tehsil councils. Senior police officials said heavy contingents of police were deployed at polling stations and in the two constituencies to ensure peaceful polling. The City Police Chief Ashfaq Anwar and other officials visited various polling stations to inspect the security arrangements for the polls.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had set up 155 polling stations with 496 polling booths for 218630 voters in Mathra. As many as 84 of these polling stations were declared most sensitive and 57 were declared sensitive.

Another 134 polling statiwith 392 polling booths were set up for 165800 voters in Tehsil council Havelian. Of these 40 polling stations were declared most sensitive and 25 were declared sensitive. The main contenders in Havelian in included independent Uzair Sher Khan, Iftikhar Khan of PTI and Talha Asif of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz.

The ECP had banned any rally or inauguration of a project by a public office holder in an area where polls are being held, terming it a violation of the code of conduct.