KARACHI: Arguably the biggest upset of the 2018 general election has been the defeat of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from Lyari, a longtime stronghold of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Lyari did the unthinkable when it rejected Bilawal in favour of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. What’s even more shocking is the PPP chairman’s failure to finish as runner-up there. He was defeated by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), who stole the second spot from him.
Bilawal managed to win from the PPP’s fort of Larkana, but lost to the PTI in Malakand.
He contested the elections from three constituencies: NA-246 Karachi South 1, NA-8 Malakand and NA-200 Larkana 1.
Here is a breakdown of his electoral performance:
NA-246 Karachi South 1
PTI’s Abdul Shakoor Shad won the NA-246 Karachi South 1 constituency with 52,750 votes. He was followed by Ahmed Bakhsh of TLP, who garnered 42,345 votes.
Bilawal finished third with 39,325 votes.
NA-8 Malakand
Bilawal lost to PTI candidate Junaid Akbar in NA-8 Malakand, who topped the polls with 81,310 votes. The PPP chairman was the runner-up with 43,724 votes. Gul Naseeb Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) came in third with 31,739 votes.
NA-200 Larkana 1
Bilawal won the polls from the PPP’s stronghold of Larkana with 84,426 votes. MMA’s Rashid Mehmood Soomro garnered 50,200 votes to be ranked second.
PTI, with 8,661 votes, came in third.
