Rehana Imtiaz Dar, the mother of former PTI leader Usman Dar, has emerged victorious in the NA-71 Sialkot-2 constituency, defeating her rival Khawaja Asif of PML-N by a huge margin of 50,000 votes.
According to the unofficial results, Dar secured 131,165 votes, while Asif, the former foreign and defence minister, got only 81,615 votes. This is the first time that Dar has contested an election, while Asif has been a five-time member of the National Assembly from the same seat.
Dar’s victory is seen as a major blow to the PML-N, especially Khwaja Asif who had been confident of retaining his stronghold, but was apparently rejected by the voters.
Dar had received the support of her son Usman Dar, who is the special assistant to the prime minister on youth affairs, and her brother-in-law Umer Dar, who is the PTI’s district president. She had also campaigned on the agenda of development, accountability and change, promising to serve the people of Sialkot with honesty and dedication.