Quetta cum Chagai: JUI-F candidate wins NA-260 by-election

According to unofficial results, JUI-F's candidate Usman secures 43,969 votes while BNP-M’s Bahdur bags 37, 786...

QUETTA: The Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) won the NA-260 Quetta-cum-Chagai by-elections, according to unofficial results emerged after vote counting was completed in all 407 polling stations.

JUI-F candidate Mir Usman Badini had secured 43, 969 votes while Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) Bahdur Khan Mengal was in the second position with 37, 786 votes and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Jamal Tarakai was in the third position with 20, 179 votes.

Sardarzada Mir Umair Muhammad Hasni of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is at forth position in run, with attaining 14,829 votes.

Earlier, polling for the constituency was completed amid tight security measures with FC and police deployed outside and inside the polling station on Saturday. As many as 460,000 people were registered to vote in the constituency.



“The polling process remained peaceful and law and order was under control,” the Balochistan’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Muhammad Naeem Majeed Jaffar told the media while visiting a polling station in Quetta.

Jaffer added that the election commission’s complaint centre was in contact with the presiding officers and other staff to fulfill their needs. The polling process commenced at 8am and went on till 5pm, he added.

Talking on the low turnout of female voters, the provincial CEC said, “I have observed the low ratio of female voters in all polling stations but in by-election women refrain from casting their votes.”

The by-election on the seat was announced after the untimely death of PkMAP’s MNA Abdul Rahim Mandokhail who was elected in the 2013 general election.

Meanwhile, Naseebullah, a voter of the constituency, when asked about who he voted for said, “I have cast my vote for change, because the predecessor never visited us after winning the election, but this time we are optimistic that there will be change.”

During the voting, it was reported that power outages in some polling stations had caused difficulties for the staff in performing their election duties and voters also had to wait for their turn in long queues.

Meanwhile, BNP-M President Sardar Akhtar Mengal alleged that the government and the Frontier Corps were preventing his party’s voters to cast their vote in some polling stations.

(with additional input form News Desk)