QUETTA: Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Muhammad Khalid Bizenjo has been declared winner in Saturday’s polling for the Senate seat from Balochistan.

Mir Khalid Bizenjo has been declared victorious in the election for the vacant general seat of Senate from Balochistan due to the death of Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo.

The provincial election commission said that two votes were rejected.

Mir Khalid Bizenjo from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Dr Muneer Baloch from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Ghaus from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) contested the election.

Later, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate announced his support for the Balochistan Awami Party’s contestant after holding a meeting with the provincial ministers and the candidate of BAP.

The BAP candidate and provincial ministers held a meeting with PTI’s parliamentary leader at the Balochistan Assembly, Yar Muhammad Rind.

Sources close to the political party said that the PTI decided to vote for BAP’s Mir Khalid Bizenjo after meeting a delegation comprising the candidate himself along with other leaders including Salim Khosa, Mitha Khan and Lala Rasheed Dashti.

According to the regulations, 64 out of the 65 lawmakers from the provincial assembly are allowed to cast votes.

The BAP has 24 seats in the Balochistan Assembly, the JUI-F and Balochistan National Party (BNP) 10 seats each, the PTI 7, the Awami National Party (ANP) 4, the BNP Awami 3, the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) 2, the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) 1, the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) 1 and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) 1.—NNI