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