PPP’s Ali Musa Gilani wins Multan by-poll

MULTAN: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Syed Ali Musa Gilani won the by-polls held in NA-148 Multan-I by defeating the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Barrister Taimur Altaf Mahay with a big margin.

Unofficial and unconfirmed results said that PPP’s Syed Ali Gilani bagged 89,097 votes against SIC candidate Taimur Altaf Mahay who got 53,572 votes in the one-to-one contest. Gilani defeated Mahay by 35,572 votes.

The overall polling process in NA-148 Multan-I by-election was held in a peaceful environment amid foolproof security measures.

The election monitors have observed an extremely low turnout in the by-election mainly because of scorching heat.

Polling staff complained of lack of facilities like fans and cool water at some polling stations. However, no untoward incident was reported on the day of the polling process where police declared 69 polling stations as sensitive. The Pakistan Army and Punjab Rangers patrolled sensitive polling stations throughout the day. CCTV cameras were installed at sensitive polling stations while walk-through gates were also there at the entrance of polling stations.

The polling started at 8:00 am and continued till 5:00 pm without any interval. Seven candidates belonging to various political parties participated in the by-poll to win the seat vacated following the resignation of Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani, who took oath as the Senate chairman. The total number of registered voters, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan, stands at 444,231. The constituency, previously labeled as NA-154 Multan-I in the 2018 election delimitations, has been re-designated as NA-148 Multan-I in February 2024 elections.

Some 2,248 polling staff were appointed at polling stations besides 2,555 police personnel performed security duties.

CPO Multan Sadiq Ali visited the polling stations during the by-election and reviewed the security arrangements during the polling.