PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidate, Mashal Azam Yousafzai, was elected senator in by-election for a women seat in the upper house from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.

Form-58, of the by-polls, released by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stated that Ms Azam was elected to be a member of Senate of Pakistan. A total of five candidates were in the run for the upper house berth from the province, which had fallen vacant due to resignation of former senator Dr Sania Nishtar.

Ms Azam secured 86 out of 140 valid votes while opposition-backed independent candidate Mehtab Zafar polled 53 votes. Saima Khalid, another independent candidate, secured one vote.

The voting began on the premises of provincial assembly at 9am and continued till 4pm, wherein a total of 143 lawmakers cast their votes. Two lawmakers did not turn up to cast their votes.

Ms Azam has served as special assistant to KP chief minister before her removal earlier in November last year. She has also remained spokesperson for Bushra Bibi, the wife of PTI founder Imran Khan.

Talking to journalists after her election, she thanked his party leadership and lawmakers for awarding her the ticket and electing her to the upper house. `I am really thankful to my leader Imran Khan and other leaders for electing me as the youngest member of the upper house,` she said.