Maulana Fazlur Rehman denies reports of contesting by-elections

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has denied all reports that he is considering to contest the by-elections.

It was earlier speculated that Maulana Rehman was considering contesting the by-election in NA-35 Bannu in which Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Akram Khan Durrani was defeated by a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.

Imran Khan secured 113, 822 and defeated Durrani who secured 106,820 votes, but eventually decided to vacate the seat and keep the NA-95 Mianwali seat instead, one of five which he had won.

The PTI chief had emerged victorious from NA-35 Bannu, NA-53 Islamabad, NA-95 Mianwali, NA-131 Lahore and NA-243 Karachi in the general elections.

However, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has denied all such reports and has informed the party’s central and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa executive committees about his decision without citing any reasons

Maulana Rehman contested the elections as part of the MMA which does not perform as expected and suffered a crushing defeat. The stalwart was also defeated by PTI’s Ali Amin Gandapur in NA-58 Dera Ismail Khan.

He rejected the results and decried that the elections were rigged and ultimately convened an all-parties conference (APC) to rally the opposition around him.

However, the alliance faltered as the opposition particularly the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) decided to be a part a parliament despite expressing reservations over the conduct of the general elections.