LAHORE : The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on different in the by-polls held on October 14 suffered defeat on seats such as NA-56, PP-3, PP-27, NA-131, PP-222 and PP-292 which it won in the general elections while defeating the PML-N candidates.
On two seats, PP-3 (Attock) and PP-27 (Jhelum), PTI candidates lost with a very narrow margin, whereas, the contest on others remained mostly one-sided.
Besides, the PTI candidates suffered defeat on the seats such as NA-103, PP-103 (Faisalabad), PP-118 (Toba Tek Singh), NA-124, PP-164, PP-165 where either polls were not held on July 25 or they were won by PML-N.
In the region of Potohar, PTI and its allies won the vacant National Assembly seats, including NA-53 (Federal Capital), NA-60, NA-63 (Rawalpindi) NA-65 (Chakwal, won by PML-Q), whereas, it lost the one vacated by Major (R) Tahir Sadiq. In Gujrat as well, PML-Q with the support of PTI won the seat of NA-69 from where Chaudhry Moonis Elahi, son of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, got elected MNA.
In NA-60, Rawalpindi, the seat where elections were not held on July 25 due to the disqualification of PML-N's Hanif Abbasi, PTI candidate Sheikh Rashid Shafique narrowly escape defeat. He defeated PML-N's Chaudhry Sajjad with a margin of a few hundred votes and division in the PTI camp over his candidature was also quite visible. Out of the three provincial seats that fall under NA-60, PTI got a lead from PP-11 where Chaudhry Adnan is MPA, whereas, from the rest of the two from where sitting MPAs are Raja Rashid Hafeez and Fayyaz Chohan (both provincial ministers), Sheikh Rashid go the lead.
NA-56 AND PP-3: In the 2018 general elections, these seats were won by PTI's Major (R) Tahir Sadiq and comprised of the areas like Hazro as well as parts of Tehsil Hassan Abdal.
Having won three seats from the district, including NA-55, NA-56 and PP-3, Tahir Sadiq vacated NA-56 and PP-3 and sources stated that on the vacant NA seat, he lobbied to accommodate his son-in-law Wasim Gulzar. However, Malik Amin Aslam, the adviser to prime minister and former MNA, minister from the same district played his role in awarding the ticket to former MPA Malik Khurram Ali Khan. Malik Khurram was the former PPP MPA of 2008 who joined PTI in 2012. From NA-56, the PML-N ticket holder in July 2018 general election and former District Naib Nazim of Attock, Malik Sohail Khan emerged victorious in the by-polls with a big lead. The PTI candidate got around 90,000 votes whereas the winner on the seat got around 130,000 votes.
Malik Sohail was the District Naib Nazim of Attock while Major (R) Tahir Sadiq was the District Nazim and he also remained associated with PTI till 2015 and sources stated that he also opposed the candidature of Tahir Sadiq's daughter who was the PTI’s district chairman candidate. Sohail Khan joined PML-N and contested from NA-56 but lost to Tahir Sadiq. In the by-polls, the group of Major (R) Tahir Sadiq, which was denied ticket in the by-poll didn't put its weight behind the PTI candidate which eventually cost party the seat and benefited Malik Sohail. The impact of the NA election was also seen on the provincial seat where PTI lost with a narrow margin when PML-N's Iftikhar Ahmed Khan defeated the PTI candidate Akber Khan.
PP-27, JHELUM: PP-27, a seat that falls in District Jhelum, was won by current Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry who retained the National Assembly seat and vacated this one. This seat falls in famous the Pind Dadan Khan area from where Nazar Gondal, former parliamentary secretary for law, got elected previously on PML-N ticket and once on PML-Q ticket in 2002.
In this area, mostly the candidates with the tickets of Muslim League had got elected in last two decades or so and clan factor also plays a vital role here, with Jatts and Rajputs representing two main clans. In the general elections, all the Jatts got united but in the by-polls, their support was divided. The group of former MPA Nazar Gondal also supported PML-N unlike the 2018 general election when it sided with PTI. Nevertheless, the margin between victory and defeat on this seat is very marginal and in recount, PTI could even win this seat.
FAISALABAD DIVISION: From Faisalabad Division, PTI lost one National Assembly and two provincial assembly seats. This is noteworthy that in this division which includes the districts of Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang and Chiniot, the sitting Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar had an influence over distribution of tickets, particularly in Toba Tek Singh, his own city.
PP-118: From Toba Tek Sigh, Bilal Warraich, an independent candidate, who was refused the PTI ticket emerged victorious while defeating Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Asad Zaman. Asad Zaman served as Tehsil Nazim in the area while Chaudhry Ashfaq, another PTI leader now was serving as District Nazim.
Chaudhry Ashfaq and Chaudhry Sarwar represent the same group in PTI and on the basis of this support, Asad Zaman got the party ticket but eventually lost the poll. Sources stated that Riaz Fatyana, another noted political figure of Toba Tek Singh, who got elected MPA and MNA for multiple terms, and having a good know-how of the local politics also made efforts to get PTI ticket for Bilal, who also remained MPA in previous terms. However, Chaudhry Sarwar, having full control of the district and division favoured Asad Zaman but the party lost the election.
Bilal Warraich had lost the 2018 general election from the same seat at the hand of his brother Khalid Warraich who won as PML-N candidate. Now both PML-N and PTI are negotiating with Bilal Warraich to garner his support in Punjab Assembly where already Tehreek-e-Insaf has testing time to maintain its strength. PTI leader Riaz Fatyana has also called on Bilal recently to get his support for party.
NA-103 and PP-103: Almost similar situation prevailed in NA-103 and PP-103, the seats of Faisalabad. On NA-103, the contest took place between two close relatives, Ali Gohar Baloch and Saad Ullah Baloch, in which the PML-N candidate Ali Gohar won with a margin of around 11,000 votes.
Ali Gohar is the brother of late PML-N MNA Rajab Ali Baloch, and sympathy of voters for him in the poll over the sad demise of his brother was visible. Nevertheless, the PTI local leadership made surprising decisions. In that constituency, PTI awarded ticket to Saad Ullah Baloch but refused the ticket to Ehsan Riaz Fatyana, son of MNA Riaz Fatyana and Provincial Minister Ashifa Riaz.
Ehsan Riaz as an independent candidate had defeated Saad Ullah Baloch from PP-58, Faisalabad, in 2013 general elections with a big margin. After winning the election as independent candidate, Ehsan Riaz joined PTI and remained an active Opposition member between 2013 and 2018. However, in the 2018 elections, neither he was awarded ticket from the seat he won in 2013 nor from the National Assembly seats and this division within the party cost PTI the seat, whereas, its impact on the provincial seats was also visible which the PTI lost.
LAHORE: In Lahore, the heart of Pakistan, the PTI suffered a whitewash in by-polls and lost all four seats, including NA-131, from where the party chairman, Imran Khan, had won in 2018 general elections.
The election in Lahore and the adjoining districts mostly witnessed the victory of PML-N due to its strong base in the district, being the hometown of Sharifs. However, what was the matter of concern in by-polls was the reduction of PTI vote bank.
The response shown by the elected MPAs of PTI from Lahore have been taken as a major concern by most of the die-hard party voters. The defeat of party in NA-131 has been taken as setback while the party chairman had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in general election. From this constituency, most of the PTI woman members have been elected MPAs on reserved seats but they were not seen very actively participating in the campaign for Humayon Akhter.
However, the most awful situation was seen in NA-124 where, according to the local organisation, not a single woman MPA turned up to the campaign of the party candidate, Diwan Ghulam Mohiuddin. In this constituency, PTI with Nauman Qaiser in general elections got around 81,000 votes but in the by-polls, 50,000 votes of PTI were reduced and Diwan Ghulam Mohiuddin got around 30,000. The turnout in this constituency remained low and even PML-N, which got around 146,000 in last general election got less than 80,000 votes. In case, PTI had run a vibrant campaign like its women MPAs were running before the general elections in different constituencies, the party could have given a tough time to PML-N on an otherwise strong constituency. Had the PTI attracted its voter and brought it to the polling station like July 2018, PML-N candidate could have even lost. But the local supporters of PTI say that there had been no participation from the women MPAs whose presence was very much needed during campaign.
PP-222: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf suffered a setback in PP-222, Multan, where the romance between PTI leadership and the Sooba Junoobi Punjab Mahaz cost party this seat.
In July 2018 general elections, this seat was won by PTI's Ghulam Abbas Khaki who died within days after winning the elections. According to sources, a senior PTI leader, who has been very active in the merger of Junoobi Punjab Mahaz in PTI used his influence and awarded ticket to Sohail Noon, brother of MNA Rana Qasim Noon, while denying the ticket to the widow of late Khaki. This is noteworthy that PTI has already accommodated the members of Sooba Junoobi Punjab Mahaz in form of Khusro Bakhthiyar (National Assembly), Basit Sultan (National Assembly), Hashim Jawan (Finance Minister Punjab), Qasim Noon (National Assembly), Dost Muhammad Mazari (deputy speaker of Punjab Assembly) and above all, Usman Buzdar as Punjab chief minister.
However, the party leadership awarded ticket to Sohail Noon who suffered defeat at the hands of independent candidate Qasim Khan who was backed by PML-N. The reason behind the defeat of the PTI candidate was the vote bagged by the widow of Ghulam Abbas Khaki who got over 20,000 votes. The PTI supporters from Multan also complained that the ticket was awarded to the candidate without consulting the local leadership that caused the defeat.
PP-292: PP-292 was the seat which was won by PTI's Sardar Muhammad Khan Leghari who took oath in the National Assembly. He defeated Sardar Awais Leghari, son of former president and chieftain of Leghari tribe, late Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.
For the first time in many years, the family of Sardar Farooq was completely out of the power politics in July 2018 general elections. Awais had lost the poll with a narrow margin and in the by-poll, he emerged victorious against PTI's Sardar Maqsood Khan Leghari.
This seat was significant because PTI created an upset here in the general elections when it not only defeated the son of late Farooq Leghari but also inflicted defeat on PML-N president, thrice chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, who lost at the hands of Sardar Muhammad Khan Leghari with a margin of nearly 13,000.
In the by-polls, the PTI candidate, 75-year-old Sardar Maqsood Khan, suffered defeat by PML-N’s Awais Leghari who got around 32,000 votes followed by approximately 21,000 of Sardar Maqsood. Moreover, the PTI also had a drawback in this constituency where it ignored the “youth factor” and awarded ticket to Sardar Maqsood, an elderly person for whom the PTI young voters mostly didn't vote, thus making Awais an ultimate beneficiary.
Besides, this seat falls in the district of Chief Minister Sardar Umsan Buzdar and he also couldn’t escape criticism after the by-poll results.
