ABBOTTABAD, May 12: The Pakistan Muslim League-N has not only kept its position intact in Hazara division but strengthened its political grip on the region.

Imran Khan’s PTI could not dent its popularity in Hazara in contrast to the complete whitewash of ANP by the ‘tsunami’ factor in ANP-dominated areas of the province.

PML-N has won three National Assembly seats and seven provincial seats from Hazara including Kohistan. Although N’s Sardar Mehtab Abbasi lost to PTI’s Azhar Khan Jadoon in NA-17 Abbottabad-I, its candidates Murtaza Javed Abbasi grabbed NA-18 Abbottabad-II, Sardar Mohammad Yousaf NA-20 Mansehra-I, and Capt (retd) Safdar won NA-21 Mansehra-II.

Out of five provincial assembly seats from Haripur, PML-N has won two, while PTI also grabbed two seats while one seat went to an independent candidate. PML-N candidate in NA-19 Haripur is losing to PTI’s Raja Amer Zaman. The seat was grabbed by Sardar Mushtaq Ahmed in 2008 on PML-N ticket, but later he joined PPP and contested the 2013 polls on PPPP ticket.

PML-N provincial president and former chief minister Pir Sabir Shah was the second major casualty suffered by the party as the seat was won by PTI’s Faisal Zaman.

Among the five seats of Abbottabad district, PML-N retained two including PK-47 won by Sardar Aurangzeb Nulhota and Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan grabbed PK-45, while two seats went to independent candidates, Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani (PK-44) and Qalandar Khan Lodhi (PK-46). The fifth seat of provincial assembly from Abbottabad was won by PTI’s Sardar Idrees.

Mansehra was again a major contributor where three out of six seats were bagged by PML-N, two by independents and one by JUI-F.PML-N has clinched one provincial assembly seat each from Battagram and Kohistan districts, while JUI-F won one seat each in the two districts and also grabbed a National Assembly seat (NA-59) from Battagram.

The Kohistan constituency of National Assembly went to an independent candidate.