PESHAWAR
The central leader of Awami National Party Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour has rubbished the rumors that he pulled himself out of the race for NA-31, Peshawar seat in upcoming by-elections.
In a statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz here on Wednesday, Haji Gulam Bilour said “i have not withdrawn my candidature and am ready to contest for the seat,” adding that all reports in this regard were baseless.
As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan has also submitted his nomination papers for the same constituency, a tough contest is expected in the upcoming by-elections.
The seat fell vacant after the resignation of PTI Member of National Assembly Shaukat Ali was accepted by National Assembly Speaker Raja Parvaiz Ashraf with three other MNAs from KP.
It is pertinent to mention here that by-elections will be held in four constituencies in the province including NA-22 Mardan, NA-24 Charsadda, NA-31 Peshawar and NA-45 Kurram, on September 25.
PTI chairman Imran Khan, who had submitted nomination papers for all aforementioned constituencies, will face Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) joint candidates in the by-polls.
In the 2013 general elections, Ghulam Bilour and Imran Khan contested polls against each other from the same constituency, then NA-1.
Imran Khan obtained 90,434 votes and Gulam Bilour secured 24,449 votes in the elections. Later the seat was vacated by PTI chairman and ANP candidate Gulam Bilour remained successful in the by-polls.
In the 2018 election, Haji Gulam Bilour again lost the elections to PTI candidate Shaukat Ali by a heavy margin.
Besides Imran Khan and Haji Gulam Bilour, eight other candidates are also in the run for the NA-31 in the by-elections.
