Nisar, Abbasi lose on home turf

PPP's Bilawal falls behind by 1000 votes in NA-8 Malakand

ISLAMABAD: As election results started pouring in many big guns lost their turf in the constituencies they never thought to lose -- including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Nisar Ali Khan, in addition to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Pervez Khattak, while others retook their ground.

According to preliminary results coming out of different parts of the country, it came not only with good news but also bad news for many bigwigs whom nobody had thought could lose.

The biggest setback was former PM Abbasi, losing both his seats from NA-57 Murree and NA-53 Islamabad. The shocker for Abbasi was losing from his home constituency.

Similarly, another surprise was former interior minister Nisar losing in NA-59 and NA-63, which is his home constituency.

He was among the politicians who have consecutively been winning their seats since 1988. It for the first time he lost his home constituency.

Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour also conceded defeat around 10pm as unofficial results started trickling in.

“It seems Imran Khan is the favourite leader of the people,” He said.

PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari lost in NA-8 Malakand by a heavy margin of 10,000 votes.

In Islamabad, all the seats were won by PTI, with Asad Umer defeating Anjum Aqeel Khan in NA-54, while in NA-53 Imran Khan defeated Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Similarly, in NA-52, former minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry lost to Raja Khurram. Chaudhry has been elected to the NA since 2008.

Till the filing of this story, the PML-N’s bigwigs Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Tehmina Daultana were also at risk of losing their seats.