Polling began for by-elections on eight seats of the National Assembly (NA) in three provinces of the country on early Sunday.
The by-elections will be held on two seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), four seats in Punjab and two seats in Sindh, which fell vacant after the resignation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the NA.
In all three provinces, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the government’s coalition parties will have a tough fight with the PTI.
PTI chief Imran Khan himself is a candidate in seven seats, while Mehrbano, the daughter of PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, is contesting the election on a PTI ticket on one seat.
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Maulana Qasim is contesting the election on behalf of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) in the constituency NA-22 Mardan of K-P, while Awami National Party’s (ANP) provincial president Aimal Khan Wali has been given the ticket from Charsadda’s NA-24 constituency.
All the coalition parties in the government have announced their support of these two candidates.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has given tickets to Abid Sher Ali and Dr Shezra Mansab Ali from the three seats of NA-108 Faisalabad and Nankana Sahib NA-118 constituency. These candidates also have the support of the PDM.
Former premier Imran Khan will be the competitor of the candidates in these two constituencies too.
In Multan, Mehrbano Qureshi will contest from the PTI ticket on NA-157 seat, against Ali Musa Gilani, son of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Yousuf Raza Gilani.
In Karachi, the PDM has nominated Abdul Hakeem Baloch and Nayyar Raza of MQM-P against Imran Khan in constituencies NA 237 and 239.
A total of 11 candidates are contesting in constituency NA-237, while a total of 22 candidates are contesting in constituency NA-239.
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Apart from eight constituencies of the NA, by-elections are also being held in three constituencies of the Punjab Assembly, PP-139 Sheikhupura, PP-209 Khanewal and PP-241 Bahawalnagar.
Security arrangements
To ensure law and order in the election, foolproof security arrangements have been made while the electoral materials have been shifted to the polling station under the supervision of returning officers.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared all the polling stations of both NA-237 and NA-239 of Karachi as sensitive or highly sensitive.
Polling will continue from 8 am to 5 pm without any break. The ECP has issued a notification for the appointment of Rangers, Frontier Corps and the Pakistan Army.
