Political game changer: Polling for Punjab by-elections to be held today

After the defection of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers in Punjab, the largest province is going to witness a ‘political game changer’ by-elections in 20 constituencies today.

Political circles of Pakistan are currently focused on Punjab where by-elections in 20 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly are primarily contested between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The by-elections are taking place after the seats of the defected Punjab Assembly members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who were disqualified for voting against the party policy, became vacant.

According to political observers, the result of these elections will not only decide the fate of the ruling PML-N in Punjab but it will also gauge the direction of the future politics.

These elections have become important for two reasons. One is the chief ministership of Punjab which is now depending on the 20 to-be-elected provincial lawmakers. It will decide the fate of Hamza Shahbaz and Pervaiz Elahi for the Punjab chief ministership.

The second major reason is the narrative of the two major political parties including PTI and PML-N who are currently blaming each other for the economic and political crises. However, the results of these 20 constituencies will be enough to tell which party’s narrative is stronger.

The arena for the most important by-elections in Punjab has been set today. For which polling will continue from 8 am to 5 pm. 175 candidates will contest in these 20 constituencies.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP, a total of 4,579,898 voters will exercise their right to vote. The registered voters include 2,460,206 male voters, 2,119,692 female voters.

3,131 polling stations have been established in the 20 constituencies including 731 male polling stations, 700 female polling stations and 1,700 joint polling stations.

A total of 1900 polling stations have been declared sensitive. 696 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive while 1,204 polling stations have been declared sensitive.

According to the ECP, the constituencies of Lahore and Multan have been declared as highly sensitive districts and all the polling stations of Lahore have been declared as sensitive.

ECP sources said that CCTV cameras have been installed at the most sensitive polling stations, whereas, police and Rangers will be performing security duties at the most sensitive polling stations.

Details of 20 provincial constituencies

Elections are being held today in 20 seats of the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 14 districts of the largest province of Pakistan, including four constituencies of the provincial capital Lahore.

1. If we examine them constituency-wise, first of all, the PP-7 Rawalpindi constituency is considered to be a difficult and important constituency in the current elections. In the general elections of 2018, independent candidate Raja Asghar Ahmed won with more than 44,000 votes and later he joined PTI.

Raja Asghar Ahmed later joined the defected members of PTI and now he is contesting elections on the ticket of PML-N. PTI issued the party ticket to Colonel (Rtd) Shabbir Awan.

2. Independent candidate Malik Ghulam Rasool Singha joined PTI in the general elections 2018 in the provincial constituency PP-83 of Khushab district. Now in the by-elections, there is a contest between Ameer Hyder Singha of PML-N and Hasan Malik of PTI.

3. Independent candidate Syed Akbar Nawani won in the 2018 general elections and joined PTI in the provincial constituency PP-90 of Bhakkar district. Now, PTI has fielded Irfanullah Khan Niazi and PML-N issued a ticket to Saeed Akbar Nawani.

4. PML-N candidate Ajmal Cheema from PP-97 Chak Jhamra in Faisalabad, who is an independent candidate from this constituency. He was elected in 2018 and later joined PTI. PTI has given ticket to Ali Afzal Sahi, who is the son-in-law of the present Chief Justice of Lahore High Court (CJ-LHC) Ameer Bhatti.

5. In the 2018 general elections, Faisal Hayat Jabawana joined the PTI after winning the polls as an independent candidate in PP0125 of Jhang constituency. In this by-election, PML-N has issued a ticket to Faisal Jabwana while PTI has issued a ticket to Azam Cheela.

6. Muhammad Aslam Bharwana joined PTI as an independent in the general elections 2018 in PP-127 constituency of Jhang. In the by-election, PML-N’s candidate is Muhammad Aslam Bharwana and PTI’s candidate is Muhammad Nawaz Bharwana.

7. PML-N fielded Mian Khalid in PP-140 of Sheikhupura and Khurram Shehzad Virk is PTI’s candidate.

8. This is the first constituency of Lahore, PP-158, where former PTI leader Aleem Khan got elected in 2018 elections. Aleem Khan won by getting more than 52,000 votes, whereas, PML-N candidate Rana Ahsan Sharaft stood runner-up with more than 45,000 votes.

Now, PML-N has issued the ticket again to Ahsan Sharaf who now has the support of Aleem Khan, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and all Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties. On the other hand, PTI has issued a ticket to Mian Akram Usman who is the son-in-law of PTI leader Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed.

9. This is the second constituency of Lahore, PP-167. In 2018, PTI’s Nazir Ahmed Chauhan won from this constituency by defeating Mian Muhammad Saleem of PML-N. Now, PML-N fieled Nazir Chauhan and PTI gave ticket to Shabbir Gujjar. Nazir Chauhan is one of the close associates of Jahangir Tareen.

10. PP-168 is the third constituency of the provincial capital. In the 2018 general elections, Khawaja Saad Rafique of the PML-N won from here. After his resignation, PTI’s Asad Khokhar won the by-election. When Asad Khokhar joined the PTI dissidents, he got ticket from PML-N. In comparison to him, PTI has issued a ticket to one of its workers, Malik Nawaz Awan.

11. PP-170 is the fourth constituency of LAhore. Chaudhry Amin Gujjar is the candidate of PML-N. Chaudhry Amin Gujjar is the brother of Aun Chaudhry, who was considered to be a close aide of former prime minister Imran Khan and currently he is the advisor to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. PTI has nominated Zaheer Khokhar as its candidate.

12. Noman Langaryal is contesting the election from PP-202 of Sahiwal on the ticket of PML-N, whereas, PTI issued a ticket to Major Retd Ghulam Sarwar.

13. In PP-217 constituency of Multan, PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son Zain Qureshi is the candidate of PTI and Salman Naeem is the ticket holder of PML-N who defeated Shah Mehmood Qureshi as an independent in the 2018 general elections from the same constituency. He later joined PTI and was considered a very close associate of Jahangir Tareen.

14. In the 2018 general elections, PTI’s Zawar Waraich was elected from the PP-224 constituency of Lodhran with 60,000 votes. Later, he also served as a minister in the former CM Usman Buzdar’s government. However, he later defected and joined the Tareen group. Whereas, PML-N issued ticket to Amir Iqbal Shah who had secured 48,000 votes and stood runner-up in the 2018 elections.

In these by-elections, Zawar Waraich is the candidate of PML-N and Amir Iqbal Shah is the candidate of PTI.

15. In Jahangir Tareen’s native constituency of Lodhran PP-228, PML-N fielded former PTI MPA Nazir Ahmad Baloch and PTI fielded Captain Retd Izzat Javed. Izzat Javed had also contested as an independent in 2018.

16. Mian Fida Hussain, an independent candidate from PP-237 constituency of Bahawalnagar, won as an independent and later joined PTI who is now contesting elections on the ticket of PML-N. PTI has chosen Syed Aftab Raza as its candidate.

17. The only constituency of these by-elections where women are candidates. Syeda Zehra Batool Bukhari is contesting elections on the ticket of PML-N and she belongs to PP-272 constituency of Muzaffargarh of South Punjab. Bukhari had contested the 2018 elections on the ticket of PTI and won it. The most interesting contest is taking place on this seat as her own son Haroon Bukhari and daughter-in-law Benish Bukhari are contesting the elections as independent candidates. PTI fielded Moazzam Jatoi in this constituency.

18. In Muzaffargarh’s PP-273 constituency, PML-N fielded Muhammad Sibtain Raza who was elected on PTI ticket in 2018 general elections. PTI fielded Yasir Arafat Jatoi from here. Political experts believe that PTI gathered all the parties in both the constituencies of Muzaffargarh and a tough competition will be seen today.

19. From Layyah’s PP-282 constituency, PML-N issued ticket to Muhammad Tahir Randhawa, who won as an independent in the 2018 general elections and then joined PTI. Whereas, PTI has issued ticket to its old candidate Qaiser Abbas.

20. In the 2018 elections, PML-N candidate was Mohammad Riaz in DG Khan’s PP-288 constituency third in this constituency. The PML-N issued the ticket to Abdul Qadir Khan Khosa, the nephew of Mohsin Atta Khan Khosa. From this seat, Mohsin Atta Khan Khosa won as an independent candidate in the 2018 general election and later joined PTI.