Fehmida Mirza retains NA-230 Badin seat after vote recount

KARACHI: Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) leader Dr Fehmida Mirza has retained her NA-230 seat in Badin after vote recount.

The former National Assembly Speaker won the seat with a slim margin on 1065 votes. She received 95,064 votes, while her opponent Haji Rasool Bux Chandio of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured 93,999 votes.

Rasool Bux Chandio has requested a vote request as he had earlier lost to Mirza by a margin of 860 votes in the general elections. Mirza had initially received 96,875 votes while the Chandio got 96,015. Interestingly, the vote margin has increased after the recount.

Mirza had approached the Sindh High Court to stay the recount of votes in NA-230, but the plea was turned down and the court ordered the returning officer to continue with the recounting process.

Mirza contested the July 25 elections from PS-73 and NA-230 on the platform of the GDA, which was formed by several political parties to oppose the PPP.

She won the NA seat but lost to PPP’s Taj Muhammad Mallah in PS-73. Mallah was declared winner against with lead of a mere 281 votes. He received 37,645 votes against her 37,364 votes.

Mirza has requested a recount on all polling stations in PS-73. She lost to Mallah by a bigger margin 896 votes, as she received 36,321 votes while Mallah bagged 37,217 votes.

The Mirza family of Badin had disassociated with the PPP and contested from the GDA’s platform. Her son Hasnain Mirza was also elected from PS-72 with 43,111 votes while his opponent Syed Ali Bux alias Pappu Shah received 35,588 votes.

However, Dr Mirza’s spouse and former home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza and her other son, Hassam Mirza, were overpowered in PS-74 and NA-229, respectively.