DERA GHAZI KHAN: Mohsin Leghari of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the by-election to NA-193 (Rajanpur) with a huge margin on Sunday, unofficial result shows.

According to the unofficial result, Mr Mohsin bagged 90,392 votes as compared to 55,218 and 20,074 votes secured by Ammar Awais Khan Leghari of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Akhtar Hassan Khan Gorchani of Pakistan Peo­ples Party, respectively.

While congratulating Mr Mohsin, PTI Chairman Imran Khan expressed the fear that the victory would “scare” the government and its “handlers”.

“Congratulations to Mohsin Leghari, Meena Leghari, PTI workers & voters for the NA 193 emphatic victory despite govt machinery, neutrals & ECP all working against PTI,” he tweeted.

“My only worry is that this will scare PDM & its handlers more. Therefore, expect greater pressure on SC judges,” he said.

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PTI MNA Jafar Khan Leghari.

The result was not unexpected as Jafar Khan was quite popular in the area. Jafar Khan had so much influence that even PML-N leaders, sitting Leghari tribe chief Jamal Khan Leghari and his brother Awais Leghari, used his photo during the election campaign.

At the time of picking his ‘political successor’ after Mr Jafar’s death, his widow and former MNA Dr Meena Jafar Khan Leghari had placed the traditional turban on Mr Mohsin’s head amid a boycott of the decision by Mr Awais and Mr Jamal.

There were 237 polling stations for 379,204 registered voters in the NA-193 constituency.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023