Imran Khan likely to retain Mianwali seat

Islamabad [Pakistan], Jul 31 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan is likely to keep his hometown constituency of Mianwali National Assembly (NA)-95.

Geo News quoted sources saying that Imran Khan had promised to the people to keep his seat if he was successful in winning in the just-concluded general elections.

Imran garnered 162,499 votes in the Mianwali NA-95 seat, comfortably defeating his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Obaidullah Shadikhel.

The PTI chairman also created a record when he swept all the five NA constituencies in the July 25 polls. Imran won from NA-53 Islamabad, NA-243 Karachi, NA-35 Bannu and NA-131 Lahore, apart from being successful in the Mianwali seat.

Meanwhile, the Imran Khan-led party has reportedly decided to rope in Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as the Speaker of the Punjab provincial assembly.

Sources told Geo News that the PTI agreed to put forth a strong candidate for the position as the party is slightly ahead of the PML-N in Punjab. The PTI claims that it had secured the requisite number of seats to form the government both in Punjab province and at the centre.

The party asserted that it has gained the support of PML-Q and 17 independent candidates, thereby bringing its total tally to 149 members in the 295-seat Punjab assembly, that is enough to form a coalition government in the province, Geo News reported.

According to figures provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PTI was declared as the single largest party in the country with 116 of the 270 NA seats that were contested for, falling short of the 137 mark required for a clear majority.

The PML-N and Pakistan People's Party were in the second and third positions with 64 and 43 seats respectively. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI