Unofficial results of six NA, seven Punjab Assembly by-polls pour in
- Polling began at 8am, continued until till 5pm
Unofficial and unverified results of six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly by-polls pour in as vote counting is underway, Aaj News reported.
Polling began at 8:00 am and continue until 5:00 pm. Election material was delivered to all polling stations, while more than 20,000 police officers and security personnel, including Rangers and elite forces, deployed to ensure a free and transparent process.
Most of these seats fell vacant due to the disqualification of previous lawmakers.
By-polls: opposition sees ‘manipulation’ as battle lines drawn
In NA-18 (Haripur), the key contest is between the wife of disqualified former NA member and PTI leader Omar Ayub and PML-N’s Babar Nawaz.
In NA-143 (Sahiwal), PML-N’s Chaudhry Tufail faces off against independent candidate Zarar Akbar, while in NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan), the contest is between PPP’s Dost Muhammad Khosa and PML-N’s Mahmood Qadir Laghari. This seat became vacant following PTI’s Zartaj Gul’s disqualification.
In NA-96 (Jaranwala), PML-N’s Bilal Badr and independent Nawab Sher are locked in a close fight, while in NA-104 (Faisalabad), the contest is between PML-N’s Raja Daniyal Riaz and independent Rana Adnan, both seats vacated after disqualifications. NA-66 (Wazirabad) has already seen PML-N’s Bilal Farooq Tarrar declared winner unopposed.
At the provincial level, seven Punjab Assembly seats are also being contested. In PP-98 (Chak Jhumra), PML-N’s Azad Ali Tabassum is up against independent Ajmal Cheema. In PP-115 (Faisalabad), PML-N’s Mian Tahir Jamil faces independent Asghar Malik, among others.
Govt denies PTI’s allegation of rigging
PTI leader Hammad Azhar said in a post on social media platform X that reports are coming in from every polling station that the number of ballot-paper books recovered from presiding officers is fewer than the number originally issued to them.
He further said that PTI ticket-holder Nauman Majeed, along with 11 workers, has been arrested from the Babu Sabu NA-129 polling station camp and shifted to the Sherakot police station.
In his tweets, Hammad levelled a number of rigging allegations.
Moon Javed also said that at most polling stations in the constituency, their representatives are being stopped from entering, and complaints are being received from everywhere, Aaj News reported.
On the other hand, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari released videos of PTI’s empty polling camps while highlighting the busy crowds at the PML-N’s polling camps.
She said PTI’s polling camps were nearly empty and that PML-N candidates would win with a clear lead.
Referring to public service initiatives, Azma said people would vote for the PML-N because of projects such as the construction of 110,000 houses in Punjab, free medicines for 300,000 patients, over 20,000 kilometres of roads, tractors for 18,000 farmers, 25,000 electric bikes, 50,000 scholarships, and modern bus services.