ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday effectively conceded the defeat of his party in the first phase of local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, saying wrong selection of candidates was the reason behind the upset.

He said that from now onwards, he would personally monitor the party strategy for the second phase of the elections scheduled to be held in mid-January next year. “The PTI made mistakes in the first phase of KP LG elections and paid the price. Wrong candidate selection was a major cause,” he tweeted.

“From now on, I will personally be overseeing PTI’s LG election strategy in the second phase of KP LG elections and LG elections across Pakistan,” he added. Meanwhile, chairing a meeting of the party’s core committee, which was attended by the senior party leadership, the prime minister directed that no excuse will be acceptable in the second phase.

According to sources, it was also decided that the PTI will challenge the results of Peshawar mayor election after losing it to rivals JUI-F with a wide margin.

According to the unconfirmed and unofficial results, JUI-F’s Zubair Ali won the coveted seat by securing 63,388 votes, while PTI’s Rizwan Bangash could only manage to bag 50,659 votes.

LG elections in KP: PM takes note of PTI’s defeat

“Yes, there is no option but challenge the poll results for Peshawar mayor,” said a senior PTI leader who declined to be named. The provincial leadership, the sources said, also told the prime minister that it was a fight between the candidates due to no award of tickets on merit, which led to a major upset for the party.

Besides, the meeting was told that inflation was one of the factors due to which the PTI lost its vote bank in some areas, as the opposition parties cashed in on the situation. One of the participants of the meeting said that the prime minister categorically told senior leaders from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that any negligence in the next phase would not be tolerated.

The prime minister who is also the chairman of the party especially issued orders to senior leaders to make all-out efforts to end grouping within the party in some of the districts – a major reason behind the upset of the party in some of its strongholds in the province. However, a senior PTI leader said that the party leadership particularly, the prime minister did realise that it is “indeed a rude awakening” for the party.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021