By-polls: Voting starts in four NA, PA constituencies

F.P. Report

GUJRANWALA/NOWSHERA: The polling process has begun during the by-elections in four constituencies including two vacant seats of National Assembly (NA) and two seats of the provincial assemblies (PAs) of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on Friday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is holding by-elections on four vacant seats today which include NA-45 Kurram, NA-75 Sialkot, PP-51 Gujranwala and PK-63 Nowshera.

In a bid to avert any untoward incident, Rangers and FC officers have been deployed outside polling stations.

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 the death of PML-N MPA Chaudhry Shaukat Manzoor Cheema in June 2020 due to coronavirus.

PML-N fielded women candidates for both the seats in the by-elections. Nosheen Iftikhar, daughter of late Syed Iftikharuddin, has been given party ticket in the NA-75 constituency.

A tough contest is being expected between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate, Syeda Nosheen and PTI’s Amjad Malhi. TLP’s Muhammad Khalil Sindhu and the other seven independent candidates are also running for the NA seat.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the number of registered voters in the constituency is 4,94300. As many as 360 polling stations have been set up out of which 155 are declared sensitive and 25 are highly sensitive.

The deputy commissioner had earlier announced a holiday in connection with the by-election of NA-75 Sialkot-IV Daska.

Similarly, a ticket has been given to Talat Manzoor Cheema, wife of Chaudhry Shaukat Manzoor Cheema, on PP-51. PTI’s Chaudhry Yousuf Mehr will contest against her.

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

In Nowshera, a close fight is expected between PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali and PTI’s Omar Kakakhel on PK-63. The district administration has declared 39 polling stations as the most sensitive.

According to the details, the Election Commission of Pakistan has established 102 polling stations in the constituency to facilitate 141,934 voters including 79,063 men and 62,871 women.

52 polling stations have been set up for men, 47 for women and three are combined polling stations. Out of the total, 39 polling stations were declared most sensitive and 35 as sensitive.