PTI votes surged by 120% in general elections 2018

Eats up vote banks of all other parties

ISLAMABAD: Official statistics show that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has not only gained in terms number of seats in the parliament but also significantly increased its vote bank across the country, donning the cape of a national party.

In the National Assembly, where PTI emerged as the largest party, its vote bank increased from 7.6 million voters in the 2013 general elections to 16.8 million in 2018 election, an increase of nearly 100 per cent.

PTI boycotted the 2008 election while just 160,686 people voted for PTI candidates in the 2002 election. Imran Khan was the only PTI candidate elected to the National Assembly in 2002.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) vote bank shrunk to 12.89 million voters for the National Assembly. It had bagged 14.8 million votes for the National Assembly seats in the 2013 election.

PML-N had bagged 6.8 million votes in 2008 and 3.2 million votes in 2002 elections.



PML-Q, the breakaway faction of the PML-N, had won the 2002 polls, securing 6.8 million votes. It bagged eight million votes in 2008.

PML-Q’s vote bank drastically shrunk in 2013 when it secured only 1.4 million votes. This time around, its vote bank improved after it received 5.1 million votes for the National Assembly.

The vote bank of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – which enters elections under the name of Pakistan Peoples’ Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) – vote bank significantly shrunk in all provinces other than Sindh, where it would be coming to power for the third consecutive term.

PPP secured 6.9 million votes for the National Assembly against 6.91 million in 2013 and 10.66 million in 2008 general elections. PPP secured 7.3 million votes in the 2002 general election.

Independents retain fourth position

Independently elected legislators once again retained fourth position in terms of the number of overall votes polled.

In total, all such candidates secured six million votes.

Such candidates had secured 5.8 million votes in 2013 and 3.8 million in 2008 general elections. In the 2002 general election, independent candidates had been able to secure just 2.8 million votes.

MMA fails to regain vote bank

The recently-revived Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of various religious parties headed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F and Jamat-e-Islami, managed to secure 2.5 million votes for the National Assembly this time.

MMA was formed before the 2002 general election. It emerged as the third largest party in terms of the number of seats in the National Assembly with 59 directly elected lawmakers. A total of 3.1 million votes were polled for MMA in 2002.

The alliance disintegrated when Jamat-e-Islami boycotted the 2008 general election. JUI-F, however, took part in them. JUI-F secured 760,000 votes in 2008 and 1.4 million votes in 2013 general elections. Jamat e Islami had secured 960,000 votes.

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan:

To the surprise of everyone, Tehreek-e-Labbaik, a far-right religious party led by clerics of the Barelvi sect, secured 2.2 million votes for the National Assembly.

The party was created in the wake of protests after Mumtaz Qadri, a police guard who assassinated former governor Punjab Salman Taseer was hanged.  It gained public attention when it staged a three-week-long sit-in at Islamabad last year.

TLP secured more votes than the PPP for the Punjab Assembly. Its candidates on Punjab Assembly seats secured 1.8 million votes while PPP got 1.7 million votes. TLP secured 400,000 votes for the Sindh Assembly where it managed to bag two seats too. Its votes for the provincial assembly almost doubled than those of PML-N’s which secured just 230,000 votes while Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) got 160,000 votes. TLP candidates for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly bagged 78,125 votes while they were able to get 10,999 votes in Balochistan Assembly.

Punjab Assembly

PTI’s vote bank for the Punjab Assembly more than doubled. It is leading in the Punjab Assembly and its candidates secured 11.1 million votes.

PTI had secured 4.9 million votes in 2013. PML-N secured 10.5 million votes from Punjab this time against 11.36 million in 2013 and 5.5 million votes in 2008.

Independent candidates secured 6.1 million votes, TLP 1.8 million, PPP 1.7 million, MMA 440,000, PML-Q 390,000 votes.

Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, a shadow party, on whose tickets candidates backed by Hafiz Saeed’s Milli Muslim League contested polls after MML was denied registration by the ECP, secured 230,000 votes for Punjab Assembly. Pakistan Rah-e-Haq party, another shadow party, on whose ticket candidates of the banned ASWJ and former Sipahe Sahaba contested, could secure just 4188 votes for the provincial legislature.

Rah-e-Haq candidates for the National Assembly secured 55,184 votes while Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek’s candidates for NA bagged 171,587 votes.

Sindh Assembly

In the Sindh Assembly, PPP consolidated its position. Its candidates secured 3.8 million votes this time against 3.2 million in 2013 and 3.6 million in the 2008 general election.

Candidates of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) secured 1.48 million votes, PTI 1.42 million, MQM 770,000, independents 760,000, MMA 590,000, TLP 410,000, PML-N 230,000 and PSP got 160,000 votes.

K-P Assembly

In the K-P Assembly, PTI dominates over all other parties. Its vote bank more than doubled in the province, securing the second consecutive term. PTI-backed candidates secured 10.39 million votes in 2013. It secured 21.1 million votes this time around.

PML-N had secured 860,000 votes for the provincial legislature in 2013, but in 2018, it got only 640,000 votes. PPP had secured 470,000 votes in 2013. This time around, it secured 590,000 votes. MMA secured 1.1 million, independents 920,000, ANP 790,000, Sherpao’s QWP secured 120,000 votes for the provincial assembly.



Balochistan Assembly

Formed in March this year, Balochistan Awami Party emerged as the leading party in the province with 430,000 votes. Independents secured 310,000, MMA 260,000, BNP 120,000, PTI 100,000 while NP 870,000 votes.

Meanwhile, PPP secured only 57,663 and PML-N 28,992 votes for the Balochistan Assembly.

Biggest vote losses

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had been dominating politics of urban areas in Sindh province for the past four decades. Not only its seats declined, but the overall number of votes also decreased. Post-Altaf Hussain MQM is now registered under the name of MQM-Pakistan, which bagged just 720,000 votes for the National Assembly. It had secured 2.4 million votes in 2013, 2.5 million in the 2008 election.

MQM had secured 2.59 million votes for the provincial assembly seats in 2008 and 2.51 million in the 2013 election. However, this time around, it was able to secure just 770,000 votes for the provincial assembly seats.

Hasil Bizenjo’s National Party secured only 87,844 votes and Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s PkMAP 109,488 votes for provincial assembly.

Both these parties were part of the ruling coalition at the Centre and Balochistan governments.