PTI's Sonia Ali loses PP-123 seat to PML-N contestant after vote recount

TOBA TEK SINGH: A candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) suffered a setback after vote recount and lost her seat to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz contestant in PP-123 Toba Tek Singh-VI.

PTI’s Sonia Ali lost the seat by just a meager margin of 17 votes to Pir Qutab Ali Shah of PML-N.

The returning officer (RO) of PP-123, Shehwar Amin Wahga, has issued Form 49 for the constituency which tabulates consolidated results.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered a recount in the Punjab Assembly constituency of PP-123 on August 3. PML-N candidate Shah had filed the petition after losing the July 25 election to PTI’s Sonia.

Shah had argued in his petition that a total of 128,000 votes were cast in PP-123. From these, 4,500 votes were rejected. He also claimed that his party’s polling agent was not issued Form-45 after the counting of votes on election day.

The PML-N candidate had also alleged that the PTI candidate was made to win through ‘rigging’ and the RO had rejected his request for a recount.

Admitting his petition, Justice Karim had issued directions for a vote recount in the constituency, which led to the PML-N candidate’s victory.

On August 2, the vote recount in PK-70, Peshawar-5, had reversed the results, giving crown to ANP candidate Khush Dil Khan, which was earlier claimed by PTI leader Shah Farman.

Awami National Party (ANP)’s candidate, Khush Dil Khan was declared triumphant after recounting in PK-70. Initially, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf candidate Shah Farman was named winner in the constituency with a lead of 47 votes. However, after the ANP candidate demanded a recount, Khush Dil Khan was found leading the tally with 187 votes.