Polling concludes in Multan, Vehari

MULTAN: Polling process concluded at 514 polling stations in Multan for by-election in NA 148 and 149 constituencies besides 238 polling stations in NA-168 in Vehari.

Entrance was banned at the polling stations at 5 pm today evening, however, the voters who were within the premises of polling stations were allowed to cast vote.

Except a few incidents in which supporters of some candidates tried to disrupt the process and left some people injured, overall situation remained peaceful and people used their right to vote in a trouble-free manner.

Supporters of PPP nominee Liaquat Dogar in NA-149 alleged that around 36 to 40 people forced their entry into the polling station No 282 in Haveli Mureed Shah area of the city where they snatched ballot papers and allegedly stamped them in support of PML-N candidate. They said they immediately called police.

DSP Rab Nawaz told newsmen that they were verifying the information to proceed further in the matter. It may be noted that a total number of registered voters at this polling station were 1427. Another incident was reported from a polling station in Shamasabad where supporters of rival candidates traded allegations of bogus votes against each other.

Visits to different polling stations in urban areas of Multan (NA-149) and rural polling stations in NA-148, showed mixed response of people as some polling stations were found thronged by people while some attracted comparatively low number of voters.

The process of counting votes was in progress at all polling stations.