MANSEHRA: Differences in the ranks of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in Torghar district council provided an opportunity to the Awami National Party to grab the slot of district naib nazim in the election held here on Thursday.

Abbottabad circuit bench of the Peshawar High Court comprising Justice Attique Shah and Justice Syed Arshad Ali had dismissed the petition of district nazim Noor Mohammad and upheld the decision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Commission in which it had validated the vote of convener against the petitioner during no-confidence motion and ordered fresh elections.

Assistant commissioner Arshad Umar, who presided over the election, told mediapersons that Mr Gul of ANP secured 14 votes and was declared successful and his rival Fazal Khan Tazarai of PTI could get six votes only.

The Election Commission of Pakistan would issue schedule for elections of the district nazim in the light of high court`s verdict.

Three councillors, including two of ANP and one of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam,remained absent from the session.

The PTI has 11 councillors in the 23-member council, ANP nine and JUI-F three.

The PTI had struck an alliance with JUI-F following the local government elections in 2015 and formed a coalition government in the district.

Dilroz Khan, who has been leading the dissident group of PTI, told reporters that his group withdrew support to JUI-F contender and decided to support the ANP contender. He claimed that in return ANP would support him in the district nazim election.

Also in the day, the unseated Torghar district nazim, Noor Mohammad, told mediapersons that he would challenge the Peshawar High Court verdict in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Mansehra district nazim Sardar Said Ghulam constituted a monitoring committee to check corruption in development projects to be executed in 59 union councils of the district.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, he said that it was for the first time that any district government had constituted such a committee.

He said that assistant director local government Ziaur Rehman Jadoon would lead that five-member committee.