• ECP declares provisional results of LG polls in 39 of 63 tehsils
• Result of Peshawar mayor election halted due to postponement of polling

PESHAWAR: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) has managed to grab the highest number of mayor / chairman seats in the elections for 39 tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held on Sunday.

According to the provisional results of 39 of the 63 tehsils declared by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Monday, the JUI-F not only won 15 seats of mayor / chairman but also gave tough fight in many other tehsils where its candidates stood runners-up.

In the provincial capital, the JUI-F stunned its rival Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and has a definitive lead in the contest for the mayor of Peshawar city. JUI-F candidate Haji Zubair Ali secured 62,388 votes against 50,659 votes secured by PTI’s Rizwan Bangash.

However, the results for the election of mayor have been stopped by the ECP on account of postponement of polling on six polling stations due to law and order situation there. Of the remaining six tehsil chairman seats of Peshawar, the JUI-F managed to clinch four while the PTI could get one seat of tehsil chairman from the provincial capital.

It is for the first time that the JUI-F made its mark in the provincial capital, far from its traditional power base of southern KP. Interestingly, the JUI-F also emerged victorious in Charsadda, beating the Awami National Party (ANP) at the home turf. Also, the JUI-F emerged powerful in Mardan, where its candidate lost the mayor seat to the ANP with a margin of 6,000 votes.

In Mardan, the JUI-F secured three seats and the ANP emerged victorious on two of the five tehsil seats.

In Nowsehra, the PTI and ANP grabbed one seat of tehsil chairman each, while the result from the third tehsil was awaited. PTI candidate Ishaq Khattak, son of defence minister, won the seat by securing over 49,000 votes against the JUI-F candidate who secured over 40,000 votes.

In Swabi, the JUI-F, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the ANP and the PTI won a tehsil chairman seat each.

Of the three Kohat tehsils, the JUI-F candidate and an independent secured one chairman seat each, while the results of third tehsil were awaited.

In Bannu, the JUI-F emerged victorious in one of the six tehsils, while results of the five remaining tehsils were awaited.

Also, both tehsils of Tank were won by the JUI-F.

However, in Dera Ismail Khan — the hometown of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — provisional results of four of the six tehsils showed the PTI, Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Peoples Party and an independent secured one tehsil chairman seat each.

In Buner district, the ruling PTI showed strength by winning four of the six chairman seats. Result of one tehsil was still awaited, while another went to the ANP.

In Haripur, the PML-N got two seats, while the third seat went to an independent.

While results of the remaining tehsils have not been declared, the JUI-F was said to be leading in six tehsils, the PTI in four, independent three, the ANP in two and the PPP in one tehsil.

In the first phase the local bodies’ elections were held in 17 districts of the province on Sunday, while local government polls in the remaining districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be conducted on January 16, 2022.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2021