Candidate in Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency Shahzada Gustasab Khan has said he was hopeful that the Election Commission of Pakistan would reject the objections of his rival candidate and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif about election results to let him take the oath in the National Assembly next week.

“Mr Sharif has lost the election by a margin of over 25,000 votes according to Form 47 that carried results from all polling stations, including those in Torghar,” Shahzada told reporters.

He said the returning officer had yet to include postal ballots and review rejected votes.

Nawaz had moved the ECP seeking the “inclusion” of votes polled in Torghar in Form 47.

Shahzada said the report submitted by returning officer Hajra Sami to the ECP confirmed that votes from all polling stations of the constituency, including Torghar’s, were mentioned in Form 47.

“The ECP will hold a hearing into Mr Sharif’s plea on Feb 26. I’ll also appear before it along with my legal team,” he said.