Mohamad Sabu di Muktamar

PAS grassroots leader Mohamad Sabu has won the PAS deputy post in the Islamic party's most hotly-contested polls to date.

In a surprise victory, Mohamad (right) ousted two ulama (religious scholars) candidates in the election - the three-term incumbent Nasharudin Mat Isa and a last-minute challenge from Pahang PAS commissioner Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

According to election committee chairperson Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman, Mohamad bagged 420 votes against Tuan Ibrahim, 399 and Nasharudin, 224.

Mohamad, who has succeeded in his second go at the number two position, is the first non-ulama to hold the post for two decades.