RAWALPINDI, March 28: Candidates backed by the opposition dominated the local bodies by-elections here on Sunday, winning six of the seven union council Nazim and Naib Nazim seats in the city.

The polling which continued in a peaceful atmosphere witnessed a low voter turnout, estimated at 20-25 per cent. District Nazim Raja Tariq Kiani, after visiting the polling stations, conceded that the turnout had been extremely low.

"People generally have very little interest in by-polls and it was being expected that the turnout would be low," he added. He said no incident of violence or rigging was reported from anywhere in the district and the polling continued peacefully till the end.

According to unofficial results, Sultan Obaid Kiani, a candidate supported by the PPP, defeated Shahid Sultan, an independent candidate, to become the Naib Nazim of Satellite Town union council.

An important factor in Obaid Kiani's victory was the support of Mian Imran Hayat, leader of the opposition in the district council, who is also the Nazim of the area. Other opposition parties like PML-N had also supported Obaid Kiani.

In another interesting contest in UC-1, where a Naib Nazim's seat was at stake, PPP's local leader Nasir Mir defeated PML-Q supported Mateen Akhtar by a wide margin. Mr Mir secured 2,598 votes, whereas Mr Akhtar's tally stood at 1,565.

Mr Mir, talking to this reporter after winning the election, said the verdict of the people of the area was a no-confidence vote against the PML-Q government. Besides, the people of the area have expressed disapproval of the policies of sitting Nazim, Mir Badshah Khan Afridi, for his lack of interest in the development of the area. Mr Afridi was actively supporting Mr Akhtar.

It is worthwhile to mention here that Mr Afridi had publicly vowed to resign from his seat in case his nominated candidate lost to Nasir Mir. Wajid Abbasi, a PPP-backed candidate, was elected as the Naib Nazim of UC-17 by beating PML-Q's Amjad Abbasi with a margin of 678 votes. Mr Amjad's campaign had been run by adviser to Punjab chief minister Rahat Quddusi.

In another seat of interest to PPP, Alhaj Humayun Mirza, a close relative of sitting PPP MPA from the area, defeated Dr Tariq Mehmood of the PML-Q by a margin of over 400 votes to become Naib Nazim of UC-31.

Ishtiaq Mirza, MPA, talking to this reporter, said the PPP victory in UC-31 and other parts of the city was a reaction to the government's policies. Raza Ahmed Shah, an MMA-backed candidate, defeated PML-Q supported Hafiz Sajid Rehman by a margin of over 1,000 votes to become Nazim of UC-26 Sadiqabad.

Raja Khalid Mehmood, a voter of the constituency, told this reporter, said it was a vote against the turn-coats and Mr Shah's victory was in response to the defection by MMA's MPA Faizul Hassan Chohan who joined the PML-Q.

Sadiqabad is the home constituency of Mr Chohan and he had been actively supporting Hafiz Sajid Rehman. Mr Chohan has also publicly pledged to resign from the provincial assembly in case Mr Rehman lost, Raja Khalid Mehmood said.

In another contest for the seat of Nazim in UC-45, Malik Tahir Mehmood, who was supported by the PML-N, defeated PML-Q's Nadeem Jadoon and PPP's Shahid Soori.

The lone consolation seat for the PML-Q camp came in UC-12, where both candidates belonged to two different factions of PML- Q. Raja Arshad narrowly defeated Chaudhry Munir by a margin of 113 votes to become Nazim of Khayaban-i-Sir Syed.

Chaudhry Ilyas Khan, sitting Naib Nazim of the area, while commenting on the result, said it happened because the Lahore High Court had given stay against the cancellation of over 400 votes of a slum that had been shifted from the area.