MULTAN City News

Around 55pc turnout in Lodhran

From Our Correspondent

MULTAN: Polling for by-poll NA-154 was in a peaceful environment amid stringent security measures, except some minor scuffles at different polling stations in Lodhran on Wednesday.

Army personnel were deployed inside and outside polling stations to ensure free, fair and transparent election. As many as 47 polling stations were declared most sensitive with 256 placed in sensitive category.

Regional Police Officer Tariq Masud Yasin, who visited the sensitive polling stations, had established a central control room for monitoring purposes. At least 1,200 policemen from Multan were also deputed at different polling stations for security duties.

The Free and Fair Election Network observers predicted more than 55 per cent turnout. The Election Commission of Pakistan had shown 67.4 per cent turnout for the constituency in the last general elections.

The PML-N had won majority of union councils in the recently-held local government elections, while the PTI emerged second largest party after independents in the district.

The FAFEN director, Sarwar Bari, said he had visited a number of polling stations, adding that the process was transparent and both the main rival parties had expressed satisfaction over deployment of army personnel.

NA-154 is one of the four National Assembly constituencies where PTI Chairman Imran Khan had called for a vote audit before launching his long march and 126-day-long sit-in against the PML-N government in 2014.

Twenty candidates were in the run for by-poll including four candidates on party tickets - Jehangir Khan Tareen (PTI), Siddique Khan Baloch (PML-N), Rana Sumair Noon (PPP) and Khawaja Amir Koreja (PAT) - and 16 independents.

A total of 303 polling stations had been established in the constituency, including 34 for male, 44 for female and 235 both male and female voters. The constituency has 419,183 registered voters.

PML-N claims getting support for Muzaffargarh chairman

From Our Correspondent

MULTAN: The PML-N legislators from Muzaffargarh PML-N have claimed capturing district council chairman’s slot after getting the support of more than 62 union council chairmen out of a total of 111. The chairman would belong to senior PML-N leader Makhdoom Abdullah Shah Bokhari’s group, they added.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Multan Press Club on Wednesday, Punjab Minister Syed Haroon Sultan Bokhari said 62 union council chairmen had decided to back the Bokhari group.

MNA Syed Basit sultan Bokhari and MPAs Mian Alamdar Qureshi, Mian Muhammad Zeeshan Gormani, Malik Murtaza Rahim Khar, Malik Ahmed Karim Langrial and Sardar Khizar Khan Jatoi were present on the occasion.

Sultan Bokhari said the union council chairmen had unanimously nominated Abdullah Bokhari as the candidate for chairman and MPA Mian Alamdar Qureshi’s brother Ghazanfar Abbas Bokhari for vice chairman.