Imran Khan's prospects as next Pakistan PM brightens; PTI huge leader

According to media reports,  the meeting will be presided over by Khan and it will further decide the party’s next strategies regarding government formation.

Later in the day,  Khan is expected to announce an action plan for the formation of a new government, sources added.

As counting of votes for Pakistan's general elections continued on Thursday, politician-turned-cricketer Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) maintained a strong lead over jailed former PM Nawaz Sharif's PML-N. bagging 119 seats-only 18 away from the majority mark.

PML-N trails far behind with 61 and the PPP-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) is at third spot with 40 seats.

If the polling ends with victory for Imran, he could very well be joining a rare group of former sportspersons who have gone on to hold important political positions in their country.

Jemima Goldsmith, the former wife of  Imran Khan, has wished him over a tweet, as news of his victory in the general elections is now a matter of time.

In the tweet, Goldsmith, a journalist and film producer, referred to Khan as her sons' father.

"22 years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons’ father is Pakistan’s next PM. It’s an incredible lesson in tenacity, belief & refusal to accept defeat. The challenge now is to remember why he entered politics in the 1st place. Congratulations @ImranKhanPTI," she said.

However, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif has rejected the poll results due to  'manifest & massive irregularities'. 

He tweeted: "Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) wholly rejects the results of General Elections 2018 due to manifest & massive irregularities. Form 45 was not given to our agents, results were stopped & votes were counted in the absence of our poll agents. This is both unbearable & unacceptable!."

He said: "The mandate of the millions of people who came out to vote has been humiliated. Our democratic process has been pushed back by decades. Had the public mandate been delivered in a fair manner, we would have accepted it happily."

As many as 12,570 candidates contested for a total of 849 seats in the country with the main battle is being fought between ex-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's PTI.

The political battle also saw the participation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto.

The period of campaigning for the polls ended on Tuesday midnight.

Political parties worked hard to earn greater public support for the polls.

Nawaz Sharif's PML-N will be working hard to earn a second term.

Before the elections, the campaigning period witnessed terror attacks which even left several candidates killed.