The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Friday clinched both the crucial positions for the Chairman Senate and the Deputy Chairman, in a knife-edge competition against the eleven-party opposition alliance.

Sadiq Sanjrani got 48 votes against 42 of Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani of PDM to win the coveted seat of Chairman Senate, while Mirza Mohammad Afridi won the seat by getting 54 votes against the 44 of Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari, a joint candidate of PDM, out of a total of 98 votes.

The opposition had challenged the result of the Senate chairman election after it was announced that seven votes cast in favour of opposition candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani were rejected.

The votes were rejected by the presiding officer, Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah, as the the stamp was on the candidate's name instead of the box next to it on the ballot paper.

"These seven ballot papers are rejected," announced Shah. He added that one vote was rendered invalid as it was cast in favour of both the candidates.

According to the presiding officer Sadiq Sanjrani receives 48 votes, while Yousaf Raza Gillani receives 42 votes.

From the upper house, 98 senators exercised their right to vote today.

Later, Sadiq Sanjrani took oath as the Chairman Senate for the second consecutive three year term.

Presiding Officer Sayed Muzafar Hussain Shah administered the oath.

In his remarks after taking oath, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani thanked the Senators who reposed confidence in him and voted in his favour. He also thanked the entire leadership of PTI including Prime Minister Imran Khan for their support. He said that he will continue to take all the Senators along.

Polling for the Senate chairman's post started at 3:00pm, presided over by officials from the Senate Secretariat. According to the latest updates, the process of voting completed at 4:40 pm, but counting will start after the official time, i.e. 5:00pm. After the results are announced, the successful candidate will preside over the elections for the deputy chairman's post.

Earlier in the day, the newly-elected members of the Upper House had taken their oath of office shortly after the session began at 10:00am.