PTI wins by-election in Jamiat stronghold

HANGU: Pakistan Tehrek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the by-election on the NA-33 constituency in Hangu city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a margin of 4,430 votes, according to the interim results.

Nadeem Khayal of PTI secured 21,583 votes, defeating Mufti Obaidullah of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) who could manage 17,153 votes. Saeed Omar of the Awami National Party (ANP) came third with 3,314 votes.

The NA-33 seat fell vacant after PTI MP Khayal Zaman Orakzai’s death on February 14. In the 2018 general elections, Orakzai, Khayal's father, won the seat with a lead of 800 votes.

Polling began at 8:00 pm and continue till 5:00 pm. According to the Election Com­mis­sion of Pakistan (ECP), 318,900 voters were eligible to cast their votes in the constituency.

The commission had set up 210 polling stations. Of these, 55 were men-only, whereas 91 were combined polling stations.

Since the PTI has resigned from National Assembly, it is likely that Khayal would also resign from the seat after taking the oath.