KARACHI: Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday congratulated the PPP’s workers and supporters after the party’s candidate Qadir Khan Mandokhail emerged victorious in the NA-249 by-election, after the recounting of votes.
The party had much to celebrate for, as its candidate was declared the victor by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with an even wider margin after votes were counted once again on the Opposition’s insistence.
“Congratulations to workers of Pakistan Peoples Party on winning NA-249 Karachi. After the recount, we’ve expanded our lead to over 900+ votes. False accusations have been exposed, the truth has prevailed,” tweeted the PPP chairperson.
Bilawal also criticised the incumbent PTI, saying that the people of Karachi “have rejected the selected and placed their hopes in PPP”.
After a recount of votes polled across all 276 stations, Mandokhail got 15,656 votes, whereas PML-N candidate Miftah Ismail secured 14,747,. Placing the PPP candidate ahead of the second-placed Miftah Ismail by a margin of 909 votes.
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had accepted PML-N leader Miftah Ismail’s request seeking a recount of votes in the wake of rigging allegations.
Reacting to the decision, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said the “narrow difference in votes of the top contestants necessitated” the recount.
