Recounting begins in different constituencies

LAHORE: The recounting of votes in different constituencies across the country began on Saturday.

Among the constituencies where votes are being recounted are Faisalabad's NA-108 and NA-106, Multan's NA-154 and NA-157, NA-230 Badin, NA-131 Lahore and others.

From PP-270 Muzaffargarh, independent candidate Abdul Hayee Dasti was declared the winner earlier in the day after a vote recount showed him leading Pakistan Awami Raaj (PAR) candidate Muhammad Ajmal Khan by a margin of 17 votes.

According to unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan after the polls, Ajmal Khan had won PP-270 by securing 17,669 votes. Dasti had been the runner-up with 17,645 votes.

Pleas for vote recount filed by PML-N leaders Saad Rafique and Abid Sher Ali were approved by the respective returning officers on Friday, as well as the plea by PTI leader Aleem Khan.

Rafique challenged his opponent Imran Khan’s victory in the closely contested NA-131 Lahore, alleging that the presiding officer deliberately rejected hundreds of votes. Imran won the seat with 84,313 votes, defeating Rafique who managed 83,633 votes. Abid Sher Ali challenged PTI's Farrukh Habib in NA-108 Faisalabad.

PTI’s Aleem Khan requested for a vote recount in NA-129 Lahore. After accepting his plea, the RO summoned the winning candidate, PML-N's Ayaz Sadiq, for a recount of votes.

Sadiq received 103,021 votes from NA-129 Lahore 7 constituency to win a seat in the National Assembly. Aleem was the runner-up with 94,879 votes.