ANP cries foul as PTI snatches PK-7 seat in Swat by-poll

Ruling party’s Fazl Maula secures 18,042 votes while ANP’s Hussain Ahmed comes second with 14,665 votes

SWAT:

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate, Fazal Maula on Sunday won the Swat by-election in PK-7 constituency of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly by defeating the Awami National Party (ANP) rival.

According to unofficial results, the ruling party candidate snatched the provincial assembly seat from the opposition party. Maula secured 18,042 votes while Hussain Ahmed, who was backed by the joint opposition alliance, came second with 14,665 votes.

The polling for the by-election began at 8am and ended at 5pm in all 124 polling stations without any break.

124 polling stations with 208 polling booths were established for the by-election.

According to the ECP, 17% voter turnout was recorded in the by-poll while out of 188,084 registered voters, a total of 33,873 used their right to franchise.

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of ANP MPA Waqar Ahmed Khan.

ANP rejected the election results, saying that like in 2018 general elections “friendly people” present in the “Corps” managed the polls.

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ANP leader Aimal Wali Khan in a statement said the official results were totally different from Form-45 given to the polling agents.

“Why the election commission remained silent on the use of government machinery and release of funds overnight,” he asked while announcing to challenge the election result.

Meanwhile, K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan congratulated the winning candidate and the party supporters on the victory.

He said all political parties together could not compete with the PTI and added that Swat by-poll was just a teaser of the next general elections.

“The victory of PTI candidate in Swat by-election is the victory of Imran Khan's narrative,” the CM added.