GILGIT: Mohammad Khurshid Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the by-election to the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly, defeating the candidates fielded by Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Peoples Party on Saturday, according to unofficial results.
Mr Mohammad Khurshid secured 6,191 votes against 4,899 polled by PML-N’s Rana Farman Ali and 4,079 bagged by PPP candidate Abdul Hameed during the contest for the Astore seat.
The seat fell vacant after a three-member bench of GB Chief Court had disqualified former chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan in a fake degree case on July 4. Mr Mohammad Khurshid is the father of ex-CM Khalid Khurshid Khan.
A total of 33,378 voters — 18,231 men and 15,147 women — are registered in the constituency. Fifty-three polling stations were established, where polling started at 8am and ended at 5pm.
In all, 14 candidates including nine independent candidates were in the run. But, the real contest was between Mr Mohammad Khurshid, Mr Ali, and Mr Abdul Hameed.
PTI workers celebrated the victory in Astore and other areas.
Retired judge Mohammad Khurshid decided to enter the race at the behest of his son, who had won the seat as a PTI candidate in the 2020 general elections.
Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2023
