SIALKOT: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ali Asjad Malhi has congratulated Pakistan Muslim League’s Nawaz (PML-N) Nosheen Iftikhar for her Daska by-election win on Saturday.
The PTI leader in his video statement said, “I won the election on February 19. Special congratulations to Election Commission who took my victory away,” he added.
He thanked his party workers for their support throughout. “Ù‘You must not panic. We will make a comeback,” he added.
Ali Asjad Malhi lost the hotly-contested NA-75 seat to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Nosheen Iftikhar.
According to provisional and unofficial results from all 360 polling stations, Iftikhar managed to secure 110,075 votes, whereas Malhi received 93,433.
The final tally means the PML-N won by a margin of 16,642 votes. Voter turnout remained at 43.33%. Among men, the turnout was 45.1%, while turnout among women was slightly lower at 41.2%.
In total, 214,063 votes were cast in the by-election, out of a total voter base of 494,003. Of the total votes cast, 1,702 were rejected as invalid.
The by-election was keenly watched after a by-poll in the same constituency on February 19 this year was declared void by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) due to multiple incidents of violence
The ECP had ordered re-election in NA-75. The PTI candidate challenged the ECP order in the Supreme Court, but the petition was dismissed on April 2 and the apex court ordered that the poll be held on as per schedule.
