GUJRAT: It almost took more than 24 hours after completion of the polling process to compile the provisional election results of 12 seats (4 NA and 8 PA) of Gujrat district as the PML-Q won two NA and seven PA seats and the result of two seats (NA-62 and PP-28) was awaited.

One NA seat was also clinched by the PML-N’s Naseer Abbas Sidhu, a brother of chief of air staff, in NA-65 whereas PML-Q’s Salik Hussain and his brother Shafay Hussain (the scions of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain) and their cousin Hussain Elahi have been declared winners of NA-64, PP-32, PP-31 and NA 63.

However, PTI candidate from NA-64 Qaisara Elahi (wife of former chief minister Parvez Elahi) and her sister Sameera Elahi also a PTI aspirant from PP 34, have termed the results announced by the returning officers as bogus and tempered with. They announced to challenge these at the competent forums beside resorting to street protests against change in their election results.

Speaking to the news conference at the lawns of the Zahoor Elahi house here on Friday, both the sisters of PML-Q chief said Parvez Elahi had also won the PP-32 seat with a huge margin against Salik Hussain but the result was announced in favour of the latter.

Even the candidates from across the district were not allowed to reach the returning officer or the district returning officers as the police have barricaded Jail Chowk and other paths leading to the deputy commissioner office since Wednesday and even media personnel were not allowed to go there.

Ex-MNA Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, a PML-N nominee for NA 63, said as per the legal procedure the returning officer was bound to announce the results in the presence of contesting candidates or their nominated representatives which has been a routine previously but he and ex-MPA Nawabzada Haider Mehdi had tried to reach the RO but to no avail.

Speaking at a news conference, Salik Hussain and Shafay Hussain termed the results satisfactory and said the people of Gujrat had voted in their favour due to the excesses committed by the PTI leadership in Gujrat. They said the people had also honoured their father, Shujaat Hussain, and grandfather Zahoor Elahi.

According to unofficial results announced by the DRO, the PML-Q has so far won 7 PA seats -- Khalid Asghar Ghural on PP-29, Abdullah Yousaf Warraich PP-30, Shafay Hussain PP-31, Salik Hussain PP-32, Raja Muhammad Aslam PP-27, Syed Madad Ali Shah PP-33 and Ijaz Ahmed Ranian PP-34.

In NA-64 Salik Hussain of the PML-Q bagged 105,205 votes while his aunt, Qaisara Elahi of the PTI, took 80,946 votes.

Similarly, Naseer Abbas Sidhu of PML-N won NA-65 by securing some 90,000 votes as PTI’s Wajahat Husnain Shah is runners-up by securing 82411 votes whereas Qamar Zaman Kaira of the PPP stood third for the third consecutive time.

In NA-63, Chaudhry Hussain Elahi of the PML-Q won the seat by taking 88,069 votes as PTI’s Sajid Yousaf Channi took 81,640 votes and PML-N’s Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul secured 56,736 votes.

Gujrat District Returning Officer Safdar Virk told Dawn that the polling in eight polling stations of PP-28 (Kotla), the unofficial initial result of NA-62 and PP-28 have not been announced yet as further orders from the ECP are being awaited.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2024