MULTAN: The PML-N took the lion’s share of by-elections since 2013 general elections held from August 22, 2013 to February 12, 2018, with the rest divided among all the remaining parties and independents, including the two main rivals – PTI and PPP.
These by-elections were in 113 constituencies – National Assembly 37, Punjab Assembly 35, Sindh Assembly 22, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly 15 and Balochistan Assembly four.
Analysis shows that the dharna politics caused serious damage to PTI, as it had won three National Assembly by-polls before the Islamabad sit-in but could manage only two since then. It was second only to the PML-N in the number of by-elections wins before the sit-in, but it is on the fourth spot in term of victories after that. On the other hand, the PML-N snatched NA-162 (Sahiwal-III), NA-154 (Lodhran-I) and PP-7 from the PTI, which had won these seats in the last general elections and a by-poll.
The ruling PML-N won 54 by-elections – 17 for National Assembly and 37 for provincial assemblies. Of these 37 provincial assembly seats, 31 were in Punjab and three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan each, thus making Sindh the only province where it couldn’t win any by-election.
If we check the share of other parties in the National Assembly by-elections, the PTI and the PPP bagged five each followed by MQM 3, JUI-F 2 and one each for PkMAP and ANP. Independents too won two seats.
On the other hand, the PTI could only a total of nine slots – four from Punjab and five from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Hence, it remained unable to win a single by-election in Sindh and Balochistan.
Meanwhile, Sindh remained a PPP stronghold as it won 14 by-polls in the province, followed by two in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But just like the PTI, it couldn’t grab any seat from Balochistan.
Another major political party is the JUI-F which won two by-elections – one each in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On the other hand, the PML-N retained the seats vacated by Nawaz Sharif – one in Sargodha immediately after the general elections and later NA-120 for which by-poll was held last year due to his disqualification.
But in wasn’t the case for PTI, as it was unable to secure the two National Assembly seats vacated by its chairman Imran Khan – NA-1 Peshawar and NA-71 Mianwali – which he had won in the last general elections. However, the PTI snatched seats from JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman who had fielded his son and brother in by-elections.
Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also retained NA-122 in by-election by defeating PTI candidate Abdul Aleem Khan. The PML-N delivered astonishing result in NA-154 (Lodhran-I) and defeated PTI candidate Ali Khan Tareen, as its nominee wasn’t a big gun. Not a single PML-N leader visited the constituency or addressed any election meeting but he captured the slot with a big margin. On the other, the PTI chairman visited the area and addressed a rally.
If we look at the PPP, it snatched seven seats from JI, PML-N, PML-F and MQM in Sindh and one in from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On the other hand, the PML-N snatched three slots from PTI and JUI-F in Punjab. The PTI could grab one Punjab Assembly seat from the ruling party.
By-elections were held in 16 National Assembly constituencies – NA-1, NA-5, NA-13, NA-25, NA-27, NA-48, NA-68, NA-71, NA-83, NA-103, NA-129, NA-177, NA-235, NA-237, NA-254, and NA-262 – on August 22, 2013 soon after the general elections.
Nawaz had won NA-68 (Sargodha-V) with 140,828 votes. The PML-N retained the slot in by-polls, as its candidate Sardar Muhammad Shafqat Hayat Khan won the slot by receiving 67,888 votes.
In case of NA-1 Peshawar, Imran won the seat in the general elections by bagging 90,500 votes against 24,468 of ANP leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour with a huge margin of 66,232 votes. But the things changed dramatically within a few months in by-elections as Bilour grabbed the seat by obtaining 34,386 votes. However, the votes tally for PTI candidate Gul Badshah shrunk to 24,468 only from 90,500 bagged by Imran.
The PTI chief also failed to retain his home constituency. He had won NA-71 (Mianwali-I) in general elections with 133,224 votes against 73,373 of PML-N candidate Obaid Khan Shadi Khel. But Shadi Khel snatched the seat by receiving 95,210 votes in by-poll.
Fazl had won NA-25 (DI Khan-cum-Tank) with 77,595 votes, but PTI candidate Dawar Khan Kundi obtained 73,754 votes to defeat Asad Mahmood of JUI-F in by-poll. The JUI-F candidate received 66,069 votes.
The PTI again snatched NA-27 (Lakki Marwat) from JUI-F, as its candidate Amirullah received 63,922 votes against Maulana Atta-ur-Rehman who could manage only 56,948 votes.
The by-elections for provincial assemblies also produced some good results for the PTI before the Islamabad sit-in. In PP-243 (Dera Ghazi Khan-IV), PTI’s Ahmed Ali Khan defeated a PML-N big gun Sardar Hussan-ud-Din Khosa – the elder son of former Punjab governor Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa.
The PTI defeated also defeated a Mamdot family member – Abdul Qadir Khan Mamdot of PML-N – in the PP-247 (Rajanpur-I) by-election. It candidate Sardar Ali Raza Khan Dreshak received 46,239 votes against 34,920 of Mamdot.
PTI candidate Sheikh Khurram Shahzad received 23,972 votes in PP-72 (Faisalabad-XXII) by-poll and defeated PML-N’s Khawaja Muhammad Liaqat who trailed with 18,256 votes.
In PK-68 (DI Khan-IV) by-poll, PTI candidate Ikramullah Gandapur received 27,610 and defeated an independent, Fatehullah Khan Mian Khel, who bagged 15,971 votes.
It also won the PK-50 (Haripur-II) by-poll as Akbar Ayub received 26,957 votes against 22,195 of PML-N candidate Qazi Muhammad Asad Khan.
Similarly, PTI’s Nighat Intisar received 43,617 votes to won the PP-107 (Hafizabad-III) by-poll. His rival from PML-N Chaudhry Sarfraz Khan Bhatti bagged 38,522 votes.
PTI’s Ihtesham Akbar won PK-68 (DI Khan-V) by-election by defeating an independent candidate Syed Mureed Kazim Shah.
