LAHORE: Pleas for vote recount filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Abid Sher Ali were approved by the respective returning officers on Friday. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Aleem Khan’s plea was also approved. Rafique challenged his opponent Imran Khan’s victory in the closely contested NA-131 Lahore-IX constituency. The former railways minister alleged that the presiding officer deliberately rejected hundreds of votes in the constituency. In his application, the PML-N leader demanded a recount of the votes from the said constituency. Until the votes are recounted, the results from the constituency should not be announced, he requested. Imran won NA-131 Lahore 9 with 84,313 votes, defeating Rafique who secured 83,633 votes, according to unofficial results from all polling stations in the constituency. PML-N’s Abid Sher Ali has challenged the victory of PTI’s Farrukhh Habib in NA-108 Faisalabad. PTI’s Aleem Khan’s plea for vote recount in NA-129 Lahore has been approved by the returning officer (RO). The RO has summoned the winner, PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq, on Saturday at 10am. Aleem in his plea stated the constituency’s results stand in contrast to facts, adding that the polling agents were not provided with Form 45.He also claimed that the polling agents were expelled from the polling stations during the vote count. Sadiq won the seat with 103,021 votes, while Aleem secured 94,879 votes. Meanwhile, the returning officer rejected the plea of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif to recount the vote in the closely contested NA-249 constituency of Karachi. PTI’s Faisal Vawda won the contest by 600 votes, beating Shehbaz Sharif, who secured 34,626 votes. Published in Daily Times, July 28th 2018.