LAHORE:A politician from Lahore has set up a unique record in recent by-elections as he has become the only member who has won three by-polls but has never been able to win in a general election that he also contested three times.
Shoaib Siddiqui, the newly elected MPA of Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, has become the only politician of Lahore who has won three by polls in the Provincial Metropolis and lost three times in the general elections he contested.
Every time he contested the by poll, he had a ticket of new party. Besides, he is the only politician who has won three by polls from the same constituency if the present area falling under current PP 149 is considered.
The present PP 149 comprises of areas like Garhi Shahu, Empress Road, Basti Syden Shah, some sides touching Dharampura and parts of the city that pertain to the Walton Board. In the year 2004, Shoaib Siddiqui won from the then PP 156 in the by poll, the seat vacated by PMLN's Amjed Aziz. By then, PP 156 covered almost entire Walton Board area. In the year 2015, Shoaib Siddiqui won from PP 147 by polls, the seat that covered areas like Garhi Shahu, Railway Colony, Basti Syden Shah and many areas close to the Upper Mall Road.
In 2024, interestingly, most of the area that pertained to previous PP 147 and previous PP 156 was included in a newly formed PP 149 from where Abdul Aleem Khan, the head of IPP won. In the 2024 by polls while Abdul Aleem Khan retained the National Assembly seat (NA 117), he vacated PP 149 from where Shoaib Siddiqi was fielded as the IPP candidate and he won comfortably.
In this way, Shoaib has won three by polls from Lahore. The politicians who have won two by polls from the soil of Lahore include Pervaiz Malik, Khawaja Salman Rafique and Malik Asad Khokar.
This is also an interesting fact that Shoaib Siddiqi is also the political figure who has never been able to win a general election from Lahore. He lost in the 2008 general elections from the then PP 156 in the hands of PMLN's Yasin Sohal. In 2013 general elections, he lost to PMLN's Mohsin Latif from PP 147 and again in 2018 in the hands of PMLN's Khawaja Salman Rafique. Besides, in Lahore, the famous Malik family has continued its winning streak in the by polls as for the fourth time, the member of this family has won a by poll on the soil of Lahore.
Ali Pervaiz Malik of PMLN has been elected as MNA for second time in his political career. His father late Pervaiz Malik got elected as MNA in 1997 by poll, 2002 general elections, 2010 by poll, 2013 and 2018 general elections. His mother Shaista Pervaiz Malik has got elected as MNA for multiple terms now.
However, the unique record this family possesses is that it is the only family that has won four by polls from Lahore. In 1997 by polls while the then NA 95 seat was vacated by PMLN supermo Nawaz Sharif, Pervaiz Malik was fielded and got elected unopposed. In 2010, on the seat vacated by Makhdum Javaid Hashmi and from where Nawaz Sharif's nomination papers were rejected, Pervaiz Malik was fielded in the by poll which he won.
In 2021, on a National Assembly seat that fell vacant as a result of Pervaiz Malik's death, his wife Shaista Pervaiz Malik was given ticket and she also won. In the 2024 by polls on the seat vacated by Maryam Nawaz, the Chief Minister Punjab, Ali Pervaiz Malik was fielded and he has won again.