Karachi: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf on Monday secured an overwhelming victory in repolling held in one constituency of Pakistan's violence-plagued city of Karachi, election officials said. PTI's Arif Alvi bagged 17,489 votes, while his opponent Naimatullah Khan of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) managed to secure only 446 votes for the NA-250 seat though his party boycotted the poll, according to unofficial results published in the Pakistani media.
The repoll was ordered in 43 polling stations after allegations of vote-rigging in the upmarket district of Pakistan's biggest city during the May 11 general election. The polling of an eligible 86,316 voters was held amid tight security, as there was tension and fear in the city after the brazen killing of PTI's senior vice-president Zahra Shahid Hussain outside her residence on Saturday night.
Though a heavy contingent of Police, Rangers, and military personnel was deployed to guard polling stations, voter turnout remained extremely low. Polling was marred by strong protests by the MQM workers in Karachi and Hyderabad, as PTI chief Imran Khan blamed the murder of Hussain (59) on MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London.
Imran's statement sparked a strong reaction from the MQM, Karachi's dominant party, which along with the Pakistan Peoples Party had announced to boycott the election. The MQM and PPP boycotted the re-polling after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected their demands of a re-do for the entire constituency....
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05:57 PM, May 20, 2013
Islamabad: President Asif Zardari has said that he should have quit his position and led the Pakistan People's Party's campaign in order to ensure a better performance in the just concluded general election. Zardari made the remarks while interacting with a delegation of the South Asian Free Media Association at his private residence in Lahore last night. The PPP, which led the government at the centre for the past five...
11:29 AM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: In a move that is being seen as Narendra Modi's clout growing within the BJP, the party president Rajnath Singh appointed the Gujarat Chief Minister's aide Amit Shah as general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh for 2014 elections. The indications are loud and clear as Uttar Pradesh with 80 Lok Sabha seats will be critical to the BJP's preparations for 2014 elections. The BJP in its prime has...
09:12 AM, May 20, 2013
Kolkata: After two years of rule, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have squandered the overwhelming mandate voters gave her, but as West Bengal gears up for panchayat polls, it seems that the TMC has the advantage as the Left is yet to regroup. Rattled by the Saradha meltdown and a spate of suicides, Trinamool faces the uphill task of addressing cries of lakhs of anguished investors and agents. With...
07:59 AM, May 20, 2013
Chennai: Pained by continuing internal bickering in his party, DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Sunday made a fervent appeal for unity, saying he was grieved over the fact that there was enough squabbling in the ranks that would harm the party more than any external factor. With less than a year left for the next Lok Sabha polls, considered crucial for the DMK after being drubbed by arch-rival AIADMK in...
02:15 AM, May 20, 2013
Chandigarh: Amid sporadic violence, nearly 70 per cent of 1.1 crore rural voters on Sunday exercised their franchise for Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad elections in Punjab. An estimated 70 per cent polling was reported as per initial reports, State Election Commissioner SS Brar said. The elections were by and large peaceful and no major incident of violence was reported from any part of the state, he said. However, skirmishes...
08:50 PM, May 19, 2013
Lahore: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has attained a majority in Pakistan's National Assembly after 18 independent candidates joined the party, placing it in a position to form government at the centre without striking an alliance with any other party. Several independent candidates belonging to influential political families of Punjab and Sindh provinces are among those who have joined the PML-N, which emerged the single largest party in the May 11 general...
07:31 PM, May 19, 2013
Chandigarh: Amid tight security, the stage is set for Sunday's elections to Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads in Punjab, the campaigning for which was marred by violence in which four persons were killed. Security force personnel had been deployed in strength to ensure smooth, free and fair elections, said state Election Commissioner SS Brar. As many as 760 candidates were in fray for elections to 331 zones of 22 Zila...
07:40 PM, May 18, 2013
Sources said that one of the two players is an Indian while the other is an international player. ...
10:38 PM, May 17, 2013
Jammu: BJP on Friday said the Congress-led UPA should declare its Prime Ministerial candidate first and whether Rahul Gandhi is a stakeholder for the top job or not. While insisting that BJP Parliamentary Board will take a decision regarding its PM candidate at an appropriate time BJP national general secretary and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah said, since UPA was in power, it should first take a decision in...
07:28 PM, May 17, 2013
Chandigarh: A day after one person was killed immediately after an election rally in Bhatinda district, two more were gunned down on Friday in a village in Amritsar in an exchange of fire between two groups, pushing the toll in the run up to the May 19 panchayat polls in Punjab to four. Tension was brewing between two groups in Chak Mishri Khan village over a consensus to elect the...
05:43 PM, May 17, 2013
Kolkata: The West Bengal Election Commission on Friday announced dates for the Panchayat elections in the state. The elections will be held in three phases on July 2, 6 and 10. The results will be announced three days later. The state government's demand for a two-phase polling was earlier shot down by the Calcutta High Court. The state election commission though said that the court order was not clear on...
04:55 PM, May 17, 2013
Islamabad: Two blasts ripped through as many mosques in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing 15 people and injuring 25 others, security officials said. The blasts occurred during Friday prayers in the mosques at Bazdara area of Malakand district, an erstwhile stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. Fifteen people were killed, officials of the Levies militia told the media. The mosques were damaged by the blasts. Local...
04:22 PM, May 17, 2013
Bathinda: Over a dozen armed men opened indiscriminate fire at a Congress-PPP election rally, killing one person and injuring at least three others in Rampura Phull area of the district. Around 15-16 armed men opened fire at the rally in Adampur village here organised ahead of May 19 panchayat polls. Congress activist Jasvir Singh was killed in the attack while Lakhbir Singh alias Lakha Sidhana, a prominent PPP leader and...
09:59 PM, May 16, 2013
Jaipur: The ruling Congress has a good chance of retaining power in Rajasthan, but it must avoid giving tickets to people with criminal records in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday. "I am (quite) confident that we will win (and retain power) in the state... although ticket distribution is our internal issue but, in my view, candidates with criminal record should...
06:41 PM, May 16, 2013
Hyderabad: Door-to-door verification of electoral rolls to rectify duplication of voters and any errors will be undertaken by booth-level officers (BLOs) in Andhra Pradesh from Thursday. The campaign to be carried out by 66,270 BLOs would go on till June 15 and new eligible voters would be enrolled during the drive, state Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal said in Hyderabad. The BLOs would also collect the mobile numbers and e-mail...
02:26 AM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is believed to have apprised her about the party's preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls. The meeting lasted for around 35 minutes. Dikshit is poised to seek an unprecedented fourth term as Delhi's Chief Minister when assembly polls are held in November. She has already asked partymen to start preparations for the election. There has...
10:24 PM, May 15, 2013
Kolkata: A day after the Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission to mutually decide on dates for the panchayat election, a move has been initiated by both to hold a meeting on Thursday. The meeting will take place amidst a deadline set by the High Court to complete the poll process by July 15. SEC secretary Tapas Roy told reporters that the meeting...
05:56 PM, May 15, 2013
Guwahati: Claiming that Assam was like home to him, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said he would endeavour to work for the development of the state that he has been representing in the Rajya Sabha since 1991. Briefly addressing the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Assembly premises here, Singh said Assam was like home to him and expressed his gratitude to the MLAs here for giving him...
05:29 PM, May 15, 2013
Islamabad: Infighting has broken out in Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf over choosing a Chief Minister for the crucial Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, with two top leaders jockeying for the position. Pervez Khattak, the secretary general of the party, and Asad Qaisar, the president of the party's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter, are in the race for the post of Chief Minister. Khan's party has emerged the single largest force in the provincial assembly and is...
11:47 AM, May 15, 2013
