By-election: Voting concludes for two NA, two provincial assembly seats

The polling started at 8:00am and continued till 5:00pm without any interval.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Voting in by-election in two National Assembly and two provincial assembly constituencies has concluded. The polling was started at 8:00am and continued till 5:00pm without any interval.

According to a statement issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the vacant seats on which by-polls were held included NA-45 Kurram, NA-75 Sialkot, PP-51 Gujranwala and PK-63 Nowshera.

Rangers and FC officials were deployed outside the polling stations and given the authority to take action against any irregularities or violations. However, they were required to notify the relevant presiding officers before taking said action.

The seat of NA-75 Tehsil Daska, District Sialkot was vacated after the death of PML-N’s MNA Syed Iftikhar-ud-Din in August 2020.

Provincial Assembly seat PP-51 Wazirabad was vacated due to death of PML-N MPA Chaudhry Shaukat Manzoor Cheema in June 2020 due to coronavirus.

PML-N had fielded women candidates for both the seats in the by-elections. Noshin Iftikhar, daughter of late Syed Iftikhar-ud-Din, was given party ticket in NA-75 constituency while Ali Asjad was PTI coalition’s candidate for the seat.

PML-N leader Noshin Iftikhar accused police officers of rigging in the polls.

Similarly, ticket had been given to Talat Manzoor Cheema, wife of Chaudhry Shaukat Manzoor Cheema, in PP-51 Wazirabad constituency while PTI’s Chaudhry Yousuf Mehr was contesting against her.

In NA-45 Kurram, PTI candidate Fakhr Zaman Khan was contesting against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Malik Jamil Khan.

In Nowshera, a close fight was expected between PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali and PTI’s Omar Kakakhel in PK-63 constituency.