ASTORE: PML-N’s Farman Ali has won the GBA-13 Astore-I constituency in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections, securing 7,252 votes according to the official Form-47 released by the Election Commission of Gilgit-Baltistan.
PTI-backed independent candidate Shahida Khursheed finished second with 6,800 votes, while PPP’s Fahad Hanif Khan came third with 5,823 votes. A total of 13 candidates contested the seat, including 10 independents. Of 44,056 registered voters, 20,145 cast their ballots, reflecting a voter turnout of 45.7 percent.
However, the result has been immediately overshadowed by serious allegations of electoral fraud and demands for re-polling. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan publicly demanded fresh elections in GBA-13, claiming that PTI-backed candidates had been leading in as many as eight constituencies across Gilgit-Baltistan before results were allegedly manipulated. According to Gohar, the affected seats included two in Nagar, two in Astore, one in Diamer, one in Ghizer, and two additional constituencies where PTI-supported candidates were reportedly ahead.
He alleged that confirmed victories were systematically turned into defeats through result tampering, and called on the Election Commission to launch a full investigation. Gohar warned that PTI would challenge the results through all available legal and constitutional channels to defend what he termed the public mandate.
PTI Gilgit-Baltistan President and former Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid echoed these allegations with even sharper language, stating that election staff had admitted in writing to casting 200 fake votes at one polling station and 75 at another in GBA-13 — with video evidence to support the claims.
“The entire public witnessed the rigging,” Khurshid said. “We completely reject these elections and will not accept them under any circumstances.”
He held the Election Commission and provincial administration directly responsible for what he described as a fraudulent and controversial electoral process, and demanded the immediate conduct of transparent and impartial re-elections in the constituency.
