PTI takes early lead in second phase of K-P local polls

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took early lead in the vote count in the second phase of the local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, as counting of ballots continued till early hours of Friday.

Elections were held in 65 tehsils in 18 districts of K-P. After the polling concluded at 5pm, the counting of votes began. The partial results of the vote-count put the PTI in lead in 22 tehsils, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in 5 and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in 4.

According media reports, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was leading in 2 and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in one. The report added that the results could change after all the votes were counted.

Earlier, the polling started at 8am and continued till 5pm. Though there were some minor clashes between supporters of rival candidates, the voting continued smoothly and no major untoward incident occurred.

The local elections were held in Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Batgram, Torghar, Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan, Kolai, Swat, Shangla, Malakand, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Chitral Upper and Chitral Lower districts.

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There are 651 candidates for the posts of Tehsil mayors and chairmen. According to unconfirmed and unofficial results, PTI is leading in 6 out of 7 tehsils of Swat district, including Matta, Khwazakhela, Babuzai and Barikot.

Elsewhere in the province, the PTI candidates were in the early lead in Alpuri Tehsil of Shangla; Balambat, Lower Dir; Dargai, Malakand; Lower Tanawal, Mastuj, Chitral; Dargai, Malakand; besides Abbottabad and Mansehra.

An Independent was leading in the Havelian Tehsil, JUI-F in Kurram tehsil, while the PML-N candidate was ahead in Lorah Tehsil. Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen candidate took early lead in Upper Karam, and Rah-e-Haq Party in Lower Orakzai tehsil, according to unofficial results.

In the second phase, polling took place in 1,830 union councils. The total number of registered voters in these districts was 8, 057, 474 – 4,489,771 male voters and 3,567, 703 female voters. There were 29,338 candidates in the fray, including 13,331 on general seats and 3,201 for the women's seats.

In the first phase, voting was held in 17 districts of the province on December 19, in which the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had won in 23 Tehsils and towns. The PTI had come second with 19 seats, followed by nine independent candidates.