PESHAWAR, Jan 9: A claimant to the post of caretaker nazim of district Lower Dir, Inayatullah, has said that the situation would become grim if he was not notified as nazim.

Speaking at a news conference here on Monday, he said that delay in the issuance of notification declaring him the caretaker nazim would result in a civil war and bloodshed in the district.

Mr Inayatullah said he had polled 25 votes while his opponent Akhunzada Sultanul Mulk got 23 votes by show of hands.

In the Oct 6 election of local government, the contest for the district nazim slot had ended in a tie between Ahmed Hasan Khan of PPP, who was backed by the Watan Dost group, Awam Dost group, Muttahida group and Khushaal Pakistan group, and Haji Rasool Khan of JI, who was fielded by JI, PML-N and PPP-S.

The rival groups moved the Peshawar High Court to decide the contest and the case has been pending since then.

Later, both groups decided to elect an acting or caretaker district nazim to run the house till the time the court decided the case between Rasool Khan and Ahmed Hasan Khan.

Mr Inayatullah said the district naib nazim, Zahir Shah, called the assembly session on January 5 during which election to the post of caretaker district nazim was also held. “I polled 25 votes while Sultanul Mulk got 23 votes,” he said.