Muhammad Mian Soomro wins in NA-196 vote recounting

JACOBABAD, January 18: The recounting of votes in Jacobabad’s NA-196 constituency has been completed, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) sources said on Tuesday. Federal Minister for Privatization and PTI candidate Muhammad Mian Soomro bagged 83,083 votes in recounting of votes at 441 polling stations of the constituency, according to unconfirmed results. PPP candidate Aijaz Jakhrani have bagged 79,187 votes in recounting of 441 polling stations. According to unofficial results, during the recounting of ballots 3117 votes of Soomro and 2612 votes of Jakhrani were rejected. The ballot papers and polling record of 31 polling stations was missing and could not be recounted, according to the sources. Muhammad Mian Soomro had bagged 6227 votes and Aijaz Jakhrani 5086 votes in the vote counting held at these polling stations in 2018. On Jan 10, an election tribunal had dismissed a petition filed by Muhammad Mian Soomro seeking to stop recounting of votes in Jacobabad’s NA-196 constituency. The tribunal directed the PTI MNA to approach the Supreme Court against its verdict for recounting of votes in NA-196. The presiding officer of the tribunal expressed displeasure over the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for failing to complete the vote recount within a month. The tribunal directed the ECP to implement its decision within a week and furnish a compliance report. -TLTP