By-elections 2024: PML-N takes lead as results pour in

LAHORE (Monitoring Desk): The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has taken the lead in the by-polls held on nearly two dozen national and provincial seats on Sunday, as per unofficial and preliminary results.

Following the swearing-in of the new assemblies, Pakistan’s first by-elections on 21 vacant national and provincial assembly seats were held amid sporadic incidents of clashes between workers of different political parties in Punjab. Major political parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) participated in the by-polls.

The voting on the by-polls, conducted after the February 8 general elections, started at 8am and concluded at 5pm today.

During the polling process, the federal government suspended mobile phone services temporarily in several districts of Punjab and Balochistan in a decision that was taken to safeguard the integrity and security of the electoral process.

Meanwhile, at the request of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the government also deployed Pakistan Army and Civil Armed Forces (CAF) troops during the polling process.

Several workers of the PML-N and SIC clashed in several constituencies, leading to death of one PML-N worker, Muhammad Yousaf in Narowal.

Police said that the PML-N worker was taken to hospital where he succumbed to injuries, adding that the polling was stopped in this
constituency.

The elections were held on five NA seats, 12 Punjab Assembly seats, two each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan Assemblies and one in Sindh Assembly.

The NA seats include NA-8 and NA-44 (KP) NA-119 and NA-132 (Punjab) and NA-196 (Sindh). Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has won one seat in the form of NA-207, Nawabshah from where Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has been elected unopposed.

The provincial assembly seats include PK-22 and PK-91 (KP), PB-20 and PB-22 (Balochistan) and PS-80 (Sindh). The Punjab Assembly seats where the by-polls are taking place include PP-32 (Gujrat), PP-36 (Wazirabad), PP-54 (Narowal), PP-93 (Bhakkar), PP-139 (Sheikhupura), PP-147, PP-149, PP-158, PP-164 (Lahore), PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan) and PP-290 (Dera Ghazi Khan).