ISLAMABAD: Even after securing more than 100,000 votes, at least 35 candidates for various National Assembly constituencies across the country lost the last month’s electoral battle including some with a thin margin that remained below the number of rejected votes in their respective constituencies.

A detailed analysis of the official results shows that 126 candidates contesting from 91 NA constituencies — 108 candidates from 77 constituencies of Punjab, six from three NA constituencies of Khyber Pakhtun­khwa and 12 candidates from 11 constituencies of Sindh — bagged more than 100,000 votes.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who won all the five seats he contested, clinched more than 100,000 votes from two constituencies. He got 163,538 votes from Mianwali — the NA-95 seat that he later decided to retain — and 113,822 votes from Bannu (NA-35). From each of the three other constituencies, NA-53 (Islamabad), NA-131 (Lahore) and NA-243 (Karachi), Mr Khan got less than 100,000 votes.

However, he was one of the top six candidates who secured maximum number of votes in the July 25 general election. He obtained a total of 545,922 votes, indicating an average of over 109,000 votes from each of the five constituencies. Three of the other top candidates were from his party, whereas Pakistan Peoples Party’s Nawab Yusuf Talpur and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Ahsan Iqbal were also among the six candidates to have secured maximum votes.

PTI chief bagged over 545,000 votes from five contests for National Assembly

PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan secured 172,609 votes — maximum number of votes from a single constituency obtained by any candidate — from NA-17 (Haripur) constituency. He defeated PML-N’s Babar Nawaz Khan who bagged 132,756 votes.

In NA-87 (Hafizabad) constituency, former federal minister Saira Afzal Tarar (PML-N) secured 157,453 votes but lost to PTI’s Chaudhry Shaukat Ali Bhatti who bagged 165,618 votes. PTI chairman Imran Khan was the third among the top six candidates by securing 163,538 votes from NA-95 (Mianwali), followed by retired major Tahir Sadiq of his party who obtained 163,326 votes from NA-56 (Attock). He also obtained 145,168 votes in the adjacent NA-55 where he defeated former minister Sheikh Aftab who bagged 101,773 votes.

In Sindh, PPP’s Nawab Yusuf Talpur secured 162,979 votes and defeated PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi who polled 104,267 votes in NA-220 (Umerkot) constituency.

Former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal secured 159,651 votes from NA-78 (Narowal) while former Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi got 157,497 votes from NA-65 (Chakwal) beating PML-N’s Chaudhry Faiz Malik who bagged 106,081 votes. The PML-Q leader also won from his native NA-69 (Gujrat) where he got 122,336 votes.

Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf secured 125,090 votes from NA-58 (Gujar Khan), but none of the others in the run could bag more than 100,000 votes. Same was the case with Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad who won from NA-62 (Rawalpindi) by securing 117,719 votes. PTI’s Amir Mehmood Kayani, who has been appointed as minister for national health services, secured 105,000 votes from NA-61 (Rawalpindi) constituency. In NA-64, PTI’s Zulfikar Ali clinched 155,214 votes against the PML-N runner-up Tahir Iqbal who got 130,051 votes.

PML-N candidates in five constituencies of Gujranwala from NA-80 to NA-84 secured over 100,000 votes. In NA-88 (Sargodha), PML-N’s Mukhtar Ahmad Malik secured 129,615 votes to defeat PTI’s Nadeem Afzal Gondal who obtained 115,622 votes. In adjacent NA-89 (Sargodha), PML-N’s Mohsin Nawaz Ranjha won by obtaining 114,245 votes while PTI’s runner-up Osama Ahmad Mela secured 113,422 votes. In NA-91 (Sargodha), Zulfikar Ahmad Bhatti of the PML-N secured 110,525 to defeat Amir Sultan Cheema of the PTI with a margin of 279 votes.

In NA-98 (Bhakkar), PTI’s Afzal Khan (winner) and an independent candidate Rasheed Akbar Khan (runner-up) secured more than 100,000 votes.

In NA-106 (Faisalabad), former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah (PML-N) secured 106,319 votes defeating PTI’s Nisar Ahmad who bagged 103,799 votes. In the adjacent NA-107 (Faisalabad), PTI’s Khurram Shahzad beat PML-N’s Akram Ansari with a clear margin. They secured 126,441 and 102,149 votes, respectively. In NA-108 (Faisalabad), Farrukh Habib of the PTI beat PML-N’s Abid Sher Ali with a margin of around 1,200 votes. Both secured over 100,000 votes.

In NA-110, PTI’s Raja Riaz Ahmad defeated PML-N’s Mohammad Afzal Khan by securing 114,215 votes against 108,172 votes bagged by his rival.

PML-N’s Junaid Anwar won NA-112 (Toba Tek Singh) seat by securing 125,303 votes while runner-up Mohammad Ashfaq of the PTI clinched 121,031 votes. In NA-113 (Toba Tek Singh) PTI’s Mohammad Riaz Khan secured 128,274 votes to win against PML-N’s Asadur Rahman who could bag 106,018 votes. In NA-114 (Jhang), Faisal Saleh Hayat of the PPP lost to Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan of the PTI with a margin of a few hundred votes. Both secured over 100,000 votes.

Hamza Shahbaz of the PML-N is also among those who polled over 100,000 votes. He got 146,294 votes from NA-124 (Lahore). In adjacent NA-125 (Lahore), PML-N’s Waheed Alam Khan beat PTI’s Yasmeen Rashid by getting 122,327 against her 105,857 votes.

In NA-126 (Lahore), PTI’s Hammad Azhar obtained 105,734 votes to defeat PML-N’s Ishtiaq Ahmad who got 102,677 votes. In NA-73 (Sialkot) former defence minister Khawaja Asif won by clinching 116,957 votes against PTI’s Usman Dar who got 115,464 votes. In NA-130 (Lahore), Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood got 127,405 votes to defeat PML-N’s Ahmad Hasan who could bag only 104,625 votes. In NA-140 (Kasur), Sardar Talib Nakai of the PTI secured 124,621 votes and defeated Rana Hayat Khan of the PML-N in a close contest. The runner-up secured 124,385 votes.

In NA-144 (Okara), Mohammad Moeen Wattoo of the PML-N won by clinching 118,670 votes against Mian Manzoor Wattoo (independent) who got 105,585 votes. In NA-149 (Sahiwal), Rai Murtaza Iqbal of the PTI emerged victorious by clinching 137,632 votes beating PML-N’s Mohammad Tufail who obtained 111,999 votes.

PTI’s Ahmad Yar Hiraj won NA-151 (Khanewal) seat by securing 111,198 votes against 109,520 votes obtained by PML-N’s Mohammad Khan Daha.

In NA-172 (Bahawalpur), PML-Q’s Tariq Basheer Cheema won106,383 votes to defeat PML-N’s Saud Majeed who obtained 101,971 votes.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Mir Munawar Ali Talpur were prominent among those securing over 100,000 votes from Sindh.

Of the eight women elected on National Assembly general seats, three candidates secured more than 100,000 votes. They were PPP’s Shamsun Nisa who secured 152,691 votes from NA-232 (Thatta), Dr Nafisa Shah of the PPP who secured 107,847 votes from NA-208 (Khairpur) and PML-N’s Mehnaz Akber Aziz who obtained 106,366 votes from NA-77 (Narowal).

PPP’s Mahesh Kumar Malani is the only non-Muslim member of the National Assembly elected on a general seat. He won NA-222 (Tharparkar) seat by securing 106,630 votes.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2018