LAHORE: The results of by-elections to three National Assembly and three provincial assembly seats in Punjab on Sunday will be a popularity test for former prime minister Imran Khan, where his party is ruling.
According to a report, the party is expected to win out of the six seats to capture the political center of the country.
The constituencies in which polling will be held on October 16 are; NA-22 Mardan III, NA-24 Charsadda II, NA-31 Peshawar V, NA-108 Faisalabad VIII, NA-118 Nankana Sahib II, NA-157 Multan IV, NA-237 Malir II, NA-239 Korangi Karachi I , PP-241 Bahawalnagar-V, PP-209 Khanewal-VII, and PP-139 Sheikhupura-V.
The highlight of the 2022 by-elections is that PTI Chairman Imran Khan is contesting on all NA seats except NA 157 where the party has fielded PDM candidate Shah Mehmood Qureshi as its vice-chairman. Meher Bano Qureshi, the daughter of Ali Musa Gilani.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, a total of 101 candidates from various political parties and independent candidates are participating in the vote: 52 in Punjab, 33 in Sindh and 16 in KP.
About 4.472 million voters are registered in these constituencies. ECP has set up 1434 polling stations in Punjab, 979 in KP and 340 in Karachi.
NA 157 Multan
Locals see very tough competition here. About 10 years ago in early 2012, former prime minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Musa Gilani won the National Assembly seat from Multan that had been vacated by Shah Mehmood, who by then had joined the PTI.
In this contest, Ali Musa got about 90,000 votes.
Meher Bano Qureshi is contesting the seat vacated by her brother Zain Qureshi and here the PTI will face a litmus test.
NA 118 Nankana Sahib
In the by-election of NA-118, Dr. Shazra is the opponent of Imran Khan. He won the seat in the 2014 by-election when it fell vacant following the death of his father. He defeated PTI candidate Brigadier Ijaz Shah from here, and Brigadier Ijaz Shah won the seat in 2018.
After his resignation, this seat has become vacant again and Imran Khan has fielded himself from here.
NA 108 Faisalabad
Apart from this, Imran Khan is also contesting from Faisalabad constituency NA 108, from where Muslim League (N)’s Abid Sher Ali was defeated by PTI’s former student leader Farrukh Habib for the first time in 2018. had tasted
Farrukh Habib won the seat by a margin of less than 2000 votes but in the current situation when the PML-N central government is under heavy criticism for its incompetence, this seat in Pakistan’s largest industrial city The result may appear. In favor of PTI
Most of the people living in Faisalabad are involved in small and large scale industries while issues like power outages and economic challenges have directly affected them and this could go against the PML-N.
PP 139 Sheikhupura
Former MPA Iftikhar Bhangu is contesting against former MNA, MPA and district nazim Mian Jalil Sharqpuri’s close relative Mian Abubakar Sharqpuri, who is now in PTI, in Sharqpur of Sheikhupura district of PML-N. .
The seat is considered a safe seat for PTI due to certain reasons including growing vote bank of PTI as well as spiritual following of Jalil Sharaqori’s group.
241 Bahawalnagar
Similarly, in PP 241 Bahawalnagar, PTI is facing a tough competition from PML-N where Amanullah Bajwa, brother of current PML-N MNA Ahsan-ul-Haq Bajwa, is pitted against PTI’s Muzaffar Awan.
It has to go the extra mile to defeat the ruling party Muslim League-N in Punjab on this seat.
Rest assured, PTI is likely to win majority of seats in Punjab due to various factors including loadshedding and inflation which has added to PML-N’s woes.
PP 209 Khanewal
PP 209 from Khanewal is a by-election seat and this seat was won by PML-N’s Faisal Niazi in 2018.
Faisal Niazi resigned from PTI membership. He is now the PTI candidate and has been challenged by PMLN’s Ziaur Rehman.
Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan candidate Rao Arif. PMLN won this seat in 2018 by a margin of around 16,000 votes and it is quite clear that its vote bank is strong here.
However, the factors that hurt the PML-N in the July 2022 by-elections are still present and the results are likely to have a significant impact on Sunday’s by-elections as well, as the PTI still holds the upper hand. Enjoying it and taking full advantage of it. The weaknesses of the PML-N government and not meeting the expectations of the people.
