DERA ISMAIL KHAN/ TANK: The candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won rather comfortably the by-election for the NA-25 (Tank-cum-D.I. Khan) constituency on Wednesday, according to provisional results.

The seat was vacated by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman who had won it in the general elections on May 11.

The PTI candidate, Dawar Khan Kundi, bagged 64,218 votes against 52,315 polled by Maulana Asad Mahmood of the JUI-F.

According to analysts, the defeat has come as a major setback for the JUI-F because it lost the NA-27 (Lakki Marwat) constituency also to the PTI on Aug 22.

Former National Assembly speaker and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Faisal Karim Kundi, who got the third highest votes in the general elections, did not contest the elections on Wednesday.

Dawar Khan Kundi had support of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Qaumi Watan Party, the PTI’s coalition partners in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

Meanwhile, tough security measures were taken for the polling, with army personnel patrolling the streets and bazaars in the constituency.