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Summary
Pakistan Peoples Party managed to bag both national assembly seats in by-polls on Saturday while the PML-N clinched one of the two Punjab Assembly seats and an independent candidate won the other seat. According to an initial count, the PPP had taken a comfortable lead in both NA-167 (Vehari) and NA-178 (Muzaffargarh) constituencies. Asghar Jatt, the partys candidate in Vehari, defeated his rivals independent Nazir Arain and Pakistan Muslim League-Ns Shahid Mehdi Nasim. The seat had fallen vacant after PML-Qs Nazir Jatt resigned during the hearing of a case about his degree by the Supreme Court. Jamshed Dasti from NA-178 secured 52,624 votes while Pakistan Democratic Partys candidate Iftikhar Ahmad Khan remained second who grabbed 46,235 votes. Thus according to the unofficial results, Jamshed Dasti won the by-elections with a lead of six thousand votes. An independent candidate from PP-259 of Muzaffargarh, Makhdoom Basit Bukhari won with an outstanding vote output of 32, 512 against his rival PPPs Sami-ullah Bukhari with 30,247 votes. PML-Ns Ajmal Asif took lead in PP-63 of Faisalabad with 31,173 votes as against 22,233 of his PPP rival Rana Aftab. In PP-63, PML-Ns Rana Ajmal polled 31,173 votes and defeated PPP Punjab president Rana Aftab who got 22,233 votes. The seat was vacated by Rana Ajmal who at that times belonged to the PML-Q. The PML-N fielded him for the by-poll. He also survived a challenge to his candidature on technical grounds because Rana Aftab, who moved the LHC, had not filed any objection with the returning officer.
