Astore: The polling for the by-election in Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly constituency GBLA-13 Astore-1 concluded on Saturday evening.
Voting started at 8am and continued till 5pm uninterrupted.
The election was announced after the seat fell vacant following former Gilgit Baltistan chief minister Khalid Khurshid’s disqualification in a fake degree case.
The total number of registered voters in the constituency is 33,378, including 18,231 male voters and 15,147 female voters.
At least 14 candidates, including nine independent candidates, are competing in the constituency of GBLA-13 Astore.
The candidates contending for the GBLA seat include, Khursheed Ahmed Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Rana Farman Ali of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Abdul Hameed Khan of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Similarly, Inayatullah Mir will try his luck in the election from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), while Attaullah will try his luck as a candidate of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP).
Tight security arrangements have been made for peaceful flow of polling. At least 363 officials have been deployed to deal with any unwanted situation.