MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 17: The candidate nominated by PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council election lost to an independent candidate also belonging to her party here on Tuesday. Polling for the four council seats was held in the AJK Legislative Assembly building and 47 lawmakers cast their votes. The house is currently one member short of its total strength.

Three seats were won by the ruling Muslim Conference while one came in the share of the People’s Party.

Salis Kiani, a former UK mayor, was nominated by Ms Bhutto as PPAJK candidate for the council seat. However, Hameed Pothi, another aspirant of the party ticket, refused to withdraw his candidature and contested as an independent candidate. PPAJK’s former president and leader of the opposition in the AJK assembly Barrister Sultan Mahmood was said to be his open supporter.

Mr Kiani got seven while Mr Pothi bagged nine votes out of the total 16 votes of PPAJK in the assembly. The other three winners from Muslim Conference were AJK PM’s son Sardar Farooq Sikandar (11 votes), Raja Iftikhar Ayub and Sardar Nasim Sarfraz Khan (10 votes each).