Polling ends for Multan's PP-196 by-election

MULTAN: Voters came out to cast their ballots on Thursday for by-election at Multan’s PP-196 constituency despite sweltering heat in the district.

Polling began at 8:00 AM and continued until 5:00 PM, when election staff began the counting process.

Voters lined up in long queues to cast their ballots, while disabled voters also exercised their right to vote. Several polling stations were functioning without even fans in the scorching heat.

The PP-196 provincial assembly seat fell vacant due to disqualification of provincial minister Ch.Abdul Waheed Arian.

Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan of PML N and Rana Abdul Jabbar of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are major contenders in the constituency.




Earlier during polling, workers of the PTI and PML-N clashed with each other on at least two occasions.

The first incident took place at polling station number 16, where women workers of both parties quarreled with each other. The second incident took place outside a polling station set up near the local timber, where workers of both parties clashed with each other, trading blows in the absence of police personnel.

Violation of election laws was also witnessed at several polling stations, with parties providing transport to voters and setting up camps within 100 metres of polling stations.

PML-N candidate Rana Mahmood-ul-Hassan also arrived to cast his vote with party workers and openly displayed his ballot, a violation of the Election Commission’s code of conduct.

133 polling stations were set up for 176,315 registered voters in the constituency. 47 polling stations were declared sensitive. DCO Multan had declared a local holiday today owing to the elections.