By-elections in four NA, PA constituencies begins

(Karachi) The polling process for 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) has begun, local media reported on Friday.

As per details, 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.

Strict security arrangements have been taken to avert any untoward incident, while 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 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.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stated that 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.

Similarly, a ticket has been given to Talat 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.