This is how Divine responds to treachery, plotting: Maryam

ISLAMABAD : Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, while reacting to the PML-N candidate’s win in NA-154 Lodhran by-poll late Monday, said, "We bow our heads before The Almighty in gratitude. This is how The Divine responds to treachery and plotting."

In a major upset for the PTI, the PML-N’s Iqbal Shah won Monday's by-poll in the constituency by attaining 113,542 votes. His competitor, PTI’s Ali Tareen, contesting his first election on the seat that fell vacant after his father’s disqualification by the Supreme Court, secured 85,933 votes.

The former first daughter took to Twitter to express her gratitude over the victory in the last by-election. "The Almighty transformed conspiracies against Nawaz Sharif into his strength," she said in a tweet, asking opponents to "still understand."

Maryam said that the people have clarified that they will not let their vote's sanctity to be violated. "The caravan of the sanctity of vote, under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, will only stop upon reaching its destination,” she said.

"When the decisions of the people are insulted, then their decision also gets toughened. If their prime minister is ousted, then they also take notice," she said. She further said: "The decision of the people is clear enough: respect the vote, restore justice." She said that this was Nawaz's ideology which has seeped into the hearts of the people.

Maryam said all the verdicts by the people point to innocence of Nawaz Sharif. “Nawaz Sharif lives in people’s hearts. The verdict of people should be respected,” she said. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister said in a tweet, “Thank you Lodhran for your trust in the leadership of PMLN... It's your victory... And we will continue to serve you... Congratulations to all the PMLN workers and our victorious candidate Iqbal Shah sb.”

Talking to a private TV channel, senior political analyst Mosharraf Zaidi described it a surprising result and said Imran Khan had nominated Ali Tareen with a belief that he could be the winner. On the other hand, the by-poll outcome showed that Nawaz Sharif still enjoyed the people’s sympathies.

Zaidi said the turnout in NA-154 was quite high for a by-election and even surpassed that of NA-120. The PML-N leader Abdur Rehman Kanju said the people of Lodhran had proved that they were poor but not conscienceless, adding that his party had learned from the previous election how the PTI indulged in buying the votes.