PM Imran Khan's Senate vote was also rejected, claims Naveed Qamar

Naveed Qamar says PM Imran Khan and Zartaj Gul Wazir's Senate votes are among rejected ones

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  • Zartaj Gul Wazir's vote was also rejected, claims PPP's Naveed Qamar
  • PM Imran Khan had cast his vote earlier during the day
  • Rejected votes were incorrectly marked, says Qamar



ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan's Senate election vote was also rejected, claimed PPP leader Naveed Qamar on Wednesday.

Read more: Senate election 2021: Results start pouring in as counting of votes continues

However, it is not clear on what grounds the PPP leader made the claim because the votes polled during the election for the upper house are anonymous.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan's vote [for Yousaf Raza Gilani's seat] was rejected," said Qamar, speaking to Geo News. "Shehryar Afridi and Zartaj Gul Wazir's votes have also been rejected."

Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani sent shockwaves across Pakistan's political landscape when he won the Islamabad Senate seat where the ruling party had fielded federal minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh against him.

While Gilani won the hotly-contested election by 169 votes, Shaikh was able to pull in 164 votes. Six votes were rejected while one was not polled, according to official results.

"The [rejected votes] were incorrectly marked," said Qamar.

Gilani vanquishes Hafeez Shaikh in hotly-contested Senate elections

Shortly after the announcement of his victory in the Senate election, Yousaf Raza Gilani held a press conference and said that he is thankful to the PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as well as the PDM leadership, including PML-N's Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Akhtar Mengal, Maryam Nawaz, and ANP leadership, among others.

"This is the victory of democracy," he said. "The Islamabad seat was the most important seat in the Senate elections and everyone was eyeing it. [Through my win], the PDM has been victorious."

Adding to Gilani's point, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the PDM has won through the votes of MNAs, which is also a win for Pakistan.

He went on to say that PM Imran Khan should "resign from his post," adding that he should adopt sportsmanship and honourably accept his defeat.

"The PDM will decide a future course of action after mutual consultation with all members."

Earlier, the PPP chief had tweeted that "Democracy is the best revenge".

Similarly, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz celebrated Gilani's victory, urging PM Imran Khan to resign and "leave the [prime minister's] seat".