QUETTA: Mohammad Kha­lid Bizenjo of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) was elected to the up­­per house of parliament from Balochistan in a Senate by-election on Saturday.

He will remain a member of the Senate until March 2021.

The seat had fallen va­­c­a­­nt after the death of Natio­nal Party founder Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo last month. He was suffering from cancer.

According to the result an­­nounced by the Provin­cial Election Commissioner, Khalid Bizenjo obtained 38 votes out of 61 cast in the by-election, while Mau­lana Ghousullah, the joint candidate of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, got 21 votes.

Two votes were rejected, while Sardar Sanaullah Zeh­ri of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Mohammad Khan Tour Utmankhail of the BAP and Molvi Noor Mohammad of the JUI-F did not vote.

Four candidates were in the field, but Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate Dr Munir Ahmed withdrew his candidature in favour of Khalid Bizenjo as the PTI is part of the BAP-led provincial government.

The BNP-M candidate had retired from the contest in favour of Maulana Ghousullah.

Chief Minister Jam Kam­al Khan Alyani congratulated Khalid Bizenjo on his election and said the poll result had proved that parties in the coalition government were united.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2020