The ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took the lead in the second phase of the local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the unofficial results, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf bagged 32 seats, whereas the opposition could only bag 20 seats altogether. Meanwhile, independent members won on 12 seats. According to the results, JUI-F bagged seven seats, which was followed by Jamaat e Islami with only five seats. PML-N and PPP could only secure four and one seat/s, respectively. The polling was held for the seats of mayors and chairmen of 65 tehsil councils and 18 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Immediately after hints of a PTI victory emerged, the Prime Minister took to Twitter and congratulated the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan, and the PTI team. In his tweet, he said, “Congratulations to CM Mahmood Khan & our PTI team for their overwhelming success in Phase 2 of KP LG polls. The people of KP have emphatically rejected the traitors who sold out to foreign masters. This is an early warning to all traitors of what awaits them in their constituencies.”
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Soon after a PTI victory seemed imminent, Taimur Jhagra, the Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Finance, reminded the opposition that a sea of people was coming to Islamabad to show support for the Prime Minister ahead of the vote of no confidence.
A total of 28,020 candidates competed in the elections, out of whom 651 contested for the slots of mayors and chairmen. Moreover, 12,980 candidates were competing for the general seats of village and neighborhood councils, 2,668 for reserved seats for women, 6,451 for peasants, 5,213 for youth, and 57 for minority seats.
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Although the elections remained largely peaceful and well organized, at least two people were killed and several others injured during polling on Thursday. Meanwhile, in the Abbottabad district, a tussle between two women resulted in the death of one and left four people injured.
Another seven people were also injured in a clash in the Jandar Bari village of Galiyat.
In the first phase of the local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ruling party faced a humiliating defeat when it failed to win even a single mayoral slot. The JUI-F, however, performed well in the first phase of the elections, winning three mayoral seats.
In the first phase, elections were held in 17 districts which included Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Khyber, Mohmand, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Haripur, Buner and Bajaur.