The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) and the PTI were neck and neck with five seats each on Monday night after re-polling and fresh polls were carried out peacefully on Sunday for mayor/chairman of 20 tehsil councils in 13 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, according to unofficial results compiled by DawnNewsTV.

Re-polling was carried out in 19 tehsils for the seats of mayor/chairman while fresh polling was held for Dera City Council’s mayoral slot, bringing to completion the first phase of local government election in the province.

These elections were first held last year on Dec 19 and on Sunday, re-polling was held in certain areas where violence had affected results whereas fresh polling was held for Dera mayor seat because the death of a candidate had resulted in postponement of polling last time.

Unofficial results showed that JUI-F and the PTI won five seats each after Sunday's polling. Independent candidates and the Tehreek-i-Islahat Pakistan (TIP) won two seats each while the Awami National Party (ANP) secured one seat. Results for five seats are still pending.

Collectively, out of 66 tehsil councils, this translates into a comfortable lead for JUI-F with 23 seats followed by the PTI bagging 14, and independent candidates winning nine seats. The ANP bagged seven seats, while the PML-N won three. The Jamaat-i-Islami and TIP won two seats each and the PPP managed only one.

PTI candidate Umar Amin Gandapur, the brother of federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur, won the contest in JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman's hometown, securing 63,758 votes to clinch the seat of Dera Ismail Khan city mayor.

JUI-F's Zubair Ali won the seat for Peshawar mayor after securing 63,610 votes. The PTI candidate, Rizwan Bangash, came in second with 51,523 votes. Zubair Ali was leading during the polling on Dec19 as well, but due to some acts of violence in six polling stations the result was withheld and re-polling was ordered for Sunday.

In Peshawar's Pishtakhara tehsil, JUI-F's Haroon Sifat won the contest, bagging 11,125 votes. Similarly, JUI-F's Syed Badshah and Mamoor Khan Wazir won the seat in Bajaur's Khar tehsil and Bannu's Bakkakhel tehsil, respectively.

In Khyber district's Bara tehsil, JUI-F's Multi Mohammad Kufail continued to lead with 537 votes.

In Karak's Takht-i-Nusrati tehsil, PTI's Azmar Ali Khan was the winning candidate with 20,497 votes in his favour. The PTI was also victorious in Bannu's Domail tehsil with candidate Israr Khan receiving 9,894 votes.

The ruling party was also successful in Bajaur's Nawagai tehsil after PTI's Dr Khalil defeated independent candidate Najeebullah Khan, the son of a former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, by 305 votes.

PTI candidate Kamran Razzak was successful in Jehangira tehsil of Nowshera district, securing 34,010 votes.

The ANP was successful in securing the post of tehsil chairman in Buner after their candidate Gulzar Hussain secured 7,820 votes.

TIP candidates Shah Khalid and Syed Nawab won in Khyber tribal district's Landi Kotal tehsil and Jamrud tehsil, respectively.

Independent candidates Shafaqatullah Khan and Shahid Bilal won in Lakki Marwat and Darra Adamkhel, respectively.

First phase of LG elections

The first phase of the elections were held on December 19 last year after which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had released the final consolidated results of 46 of the 65 tehsil councils in 17 districts.

According to the earlier results, the JUI-F had won 18 seats, followed by PTI and the ANP with nine and six seats, respectively. Independent candidates had won in seven of the tehsil councils, with PML-N securing three seats and Pakistan Peoples Party, JI and TIP winning one seat each.

In all, re-polling and fresh polling were held in 568 polling stations across 13 districts of the province on Sunday.

Last time, polling could not take place for mayor of Dera Ismail Khan’s city council and for several village and neighbourhood councils in five other districts, including Charsadda, Mardan, Kohat, Lakki Marwat and Bajaur, due to the death of candidates. Fresh voting was held at 331 polling stations in these districts.

Re-polling was held in 237 polling stations in Peshawar, Nowshera, Khyber, Mohmand, Karak, Bannu and Buner districts as polling in these districts was earlier suspended after incidents of violence and vandalism.

A total of 1,122 polling booths were established across the 13 districts. A total of 379,322 people, including 172,939 women, exercised their right to vote in the polls.

In the provincial capital, re-polling was held peacefully at seven polling stations out of which voting took place at six polling stations for the slot of mayor of Peshawar city and one in Pishtakhara tehsil.

A rush was seen at both male and female polling stations in Gulbahar area of Peshawar, where long queues of voters formed in the morning. However, with the passage of time, the number of voters reduced.