LAHORE / HARIPUR / ISLAMABAD (News Desk) The ruling PML-N secured an overwhelming lead in the by-elections held across 13 constituencies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with unofficial results early Monday showing the party bagging nearly all seats except one in Muzaffargarh, where the PPP emerged victorious.
Polling was held for six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly seats. The PML-N fielded candidates on all seats except PP-269, which the PPP won through its nominee Alamdar Qureshi. The PPP also contested two national constituencies, while the PTI largely boycotted the by-polls, participating only in Haripur and a Lahore NA seat.
By late Sunday night, the PML-N appeared set to sweep Punjab, with all but one provincial seat falling in its favour.
National Assembly results
According to Form-47 results issued after midnight:
- In NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan), PML-N candidate Mahmood Qadir Khan won with 82,419 votes against PPP’s Dost Mohammad Khosa, who secured 49,226.
- In NA-129 (Lahore), PML-N’s Mohammad Nauman secured 63,441 votes, while independent Arslan Ahmad received 29,099.
- In NA-143 (Sahiwal), the ruling party also claimed victory with 119,334 votes.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated PML-N’s Tufail Jutt for winning NA-143, saying the public had reaffirmed trust in the party’s governance.
- In NA-104 (Faisalabad), PML-N’s Danyal Ahmad won with 52,791 votes against independent Rana Adnan Javed, who got 19,262.
- In NA-96, PML-N’s Mohammad Bilal Badar bagged 61,808 votes, while independent Nawab Sher Waseer received 29,805.
Haripur contest disputed
The PTI claimed to be leading in NA-18 Haripur, citing results from 341 polling stations, saying its candidate had secured 102,136 votes against PML-N’s Babar Nawaz’s 78,066.
However, the ECP dashboard showed contrasting numbers: with results from 292 out of 602 polling stations uploaded, PML-N’s Babar Nawaz was ahead with 81,655 votes against PTI’s Shehrnaz Ayub, who had 56,981 votes.
Punjab Assembly results
- In PP-203 (Sahiwal), PML-N’s Muhammad Hanif won with 45,073 votes.
- In PP-87 (Mianwali), PML-N’s Ali Haider Noor Khan Niazi claimed victory with 67,986 votes.
- In PP-115 and PP-116 (Faisalabad), PML-N’s Tahir Pervaiz and Ahmad Shehryar secured comfortable wins.
- In PP-73 (Sargodha), Sultan Ali Ranjha of PML-N received 71,770 votes.
- In PP-98, PML-N’s Azad Ali Tabassum led with 29,227 votes from 104 of 171 polling stations.
- In the only seat the PML-N did not contest, PP-269, PPP’s Alamdar Abbas Qureshi won with 55,868 votes.
Turnout concerns and ECP response
Despite government claims of “robust turnout,” many constituencies recorded sparse voter participation. In one Faisalabad polling station, no voter arrived for several hours after polling began. Police and local mosque announcements in Faisalabad and Sahiwal urged citizens to vote.
Videos from Faisalabad also showed near-empty polling stations, with more police personnel than voters.
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja defended the low turnout, stating that the by-polls carried no impact on the parliamentary “number game,” reducing public interest.
Political reactions
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said PML-N voters turned out in strong numbers across Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Dera Ghazi Khan, and termed PTI’s boycott a strategic misstep with “political repercussions.”
PILDAT President Ahmed Bilal Mehboob noted that if PML-N secures at least five NA seats, it would not require PPP support for a simple majority in future.
Rigging allegations
PTI leader Hammad Azhar accused election staff of ballot paper discrepancies at a Lahore polling station, sharing Form-36 details. An ECP official later termed it a “typographic error,” confirming that 15 ballot books had been issued, not 18.
Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Moeen Riaz Qureshi accused authorities of removing nearly all PTI camps outside polling stations and mismanaging voter lists. PTI also alleged violence against its workers in NA-129.
In Haripur, former KP minister Yusuf Ayub accused the ECP of bias in posting polling staff and altering the PTI candidate’s election symbol.
PTI also issued a show-cause notice to its own leader Azra Parveen for contesting the NA-96 seat against party policy.
