DERA ISMAIL KHAN, June 19: Maulana Lutfur Rehman, a stepbrother of opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and MMA candidate for the by-election on the NWFP Assembly seat PF-66, won by securing 8775 votes on Saturday.

According to results from 65 polling stations, out of a total 68, independent candidate Ikramullah Gandapur bagged 7000 votes whereas Pakistan Muslim League’s Sanaullah Khan Miankhel received 5732 votes.

Ghazanfar Alizai of PPP and Abdur Rauf Baloch, reportedly backed by the now defunct Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, collected 4392 and 2748 votes, respectively.

The number of voters in the remaining three polling stations is not enough to let rival candidates overcome the lead of Maulana Rehman. Results of these stations, situated in far-flung areas, were not available at the time of filing of this report.

A total of 87 polling stations had been set up but polling on 19 stations could not take place because all the candidates had decided not to allow women cast their votes in those localities.

The seat had fallen vacant with the death of Enayatullah Gandapur, a former NWFP chief minister and father of independent candidate Ikramullah Gandapur.

Votes were cast in a peaceful atmosphere and no untoward incident came to light throughout the day.

At about 9.30pm, candidates of other political parties pulled up their camps while the supporters of MMA were greeting each other on their victory.

The total number of voters registered in the constituency is 81,566. Of them, 46,373 are male and 35,193 female. Observers believed that the turnout might have been between 35 and 40 per cent.

During the general elections of 2002, the turnout in PF-66 was 39.37 per cent. Sardar Enayatullah Gandapur had secured 11,929 votes against Sanaullah Khan Miankhel’s 10,832.