PESHAWAR: Re-polling was held at a total 568 polling stations in 13 districts of Khyber Pakhunkhwa peacefully on Sunday.

In Peshawar district, the polling was held at seven polling stations where 13,244 voters exercised their right to vote.

In Dera Ismail Khan, polling at 302 polling stations for city mayor slot was held in peaceful manner. Polling for the slot of city mayor was postponed after killing of ANP candidate Umar Khitab a day ahead of first phase of local bodies’ polls on December 18.

Later, Election Commission of Pakistan announced to hold polling for the slot on February 13. Total 302 polling stations were set up for 344,000 male and female voters.

Total 18 contestants were in the run. However, tough contest was witnessed among PTI’s Umar Amin Gandapur, PPP’s Faisal Karim Kundi and JUI-F’s Kafeel Nizami.

A total of 568 polling stations were set up for the purpose

Till filing of this report, Umar Amin Gandapur was main scorer while Kafeel Nizami and Faisal Karim Kundi were chasing him.

In Mardan, independent candidates won elections in re-polling for peasant/worker and general seats of local government.

According to unofficial results, independent candidate Uzair, who was contesting elections for the peasant/worker seat in Gujargari village council, got 415 votes and won the seat. The runner up, ANP candidate Haji Akbar, bagged 402 votes.

Similarly, independent candidate Subhan Ali got 1,569 votes against his rival candidate of ANP Malik Mehfooz, who received 729 votes for the general seat in Kot Ismailzai village council.

The re-polling for slots of tehsil chairmen and members of village and neighbourhood councils was held in Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts peacefully.

More than 4,000 security personnel were deployed at the polling stations in both the districts. People took part in the polling enthusiastically as long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations.

Commissioner Shaukat Ali Yousafzai and Regional Police Officer Syed Ashfaq Anwar reviewed election process and visited different polling stations in Bannu and Lakki Marwat.

In Bajaur, voting at all seven polling stations was held amid tight security.

The polling process for slots of Khar and Nawagai tehsil chairmen and Kissan councillor seat was started at 8am and continued till 5pm without any major break.

In Khyber, re-Polling at 39 polling stations in Bara and Landi Kotal remained peaceful as local administration had adopted stringent security arrangements during the polling process.

ECP established 34 polling stations in Landi Kotal including 30 in Bazaar-Zakhakhel area and four at higher secondary school for girls for female voters.

Five polling stations were set up in Kalakhel, Bar Qambarkhel and Shalobar localities of Bara with 800 policemen performing security duty.

The local administration had also imposed Section 144 in entire Khyber while putting ban on pillion riding, display of weapons, firing in the air and entry of men into female polling stations.

In Kohat, Zakirulllah was elected chairman while Sohaib and Mohammad Farooq grabbed the seats of councillors in the re-polling in Tappi neighbourhood council.

In Darra Adamkhel, the presiding officers of 21 polling stations out of 54 had reported to ECP at 9pm. The rest were on the way along with the results in security convoys.

The polling continued amid boycott by tribesmen while few votes were polled at some polling stations, Nauman, an official of ECP, told Dawn.

In Tappi, the polling had been canceled on December 19, 2021 due to the death of a candidate.

The re-polling was also held at various polling stations in Buner, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mohmand and Karak districts peacefully.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022