LAHORE: By-elections in NA-120 Lahore-III are being held today (Sunday). Pakistan Army and Rangers have been deployed for maintenance of law and order in the constituency. Polling will start at 8am and continue till 5pm. The National Identity Card is compulsory for casting votes. A total of 321,786 voters are registered in the constituency. A total of 29,000 votes have been challenged by candidates as their data is not available in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has established 220 polling stations including 98 for women, 103 for men and 19 joint polling stations. Voting through bio-metric machines (to verify the thumb impression of a voter) will also be underway at 39 polling stations on experimental basis.
The ECP has also dispatched ballot papers to the presiding officers under the supervision of Pakistan Army. CCTV cameras are also being installed in all 220 polling stations. The ECP has printed some 29,000 extra ballot papers.
There are a total of 44 candidates in the field. Fourteen are from major political or religious parties such as Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Milli Muslim League (MML), Pakistan People’s Party Workers (PPPW), Pakistan Justice Party (PJP), Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah Paksistan (TYRA), Jamaat Islami Pakistan (JIP), and Awami National Party (ANP).
Historically, the constituency NA-120 was snatched by PML-N from PPP in 1988. The PPP maintained its hold on the seat up till the Musharraf era. Nawaz Sharif has been elected from the constituency thrice.
Pervaiz Malik and Bilal Yasin of the same party were elected in 2002 and 2008 general elections. The seat fell vacant after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court in the Panama Case.
In the last general elections, PML-N got a lead of 39,000 votes on the runner up PTI’s candidate. The total turnout was about 50 percent in the constituency. So the margin for victory or the lead of winning votes will be less than the previous years.
A tough competition is being expected between two main contesters: Begum Kulsoom Nawaz and PTI’s Dr Yasmin Rashid. However, the ruling party has an edge as its vote bank is mostly intact despite the SC verdict.
Religious followers usually vote for Jamia Naeemia and Jamaiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazalur Rehman group (JUI-F).
A majority of Arains and Kashmiris are in support of Kulsoom Nawaz. All the votes cast for the PPP and the PPPW will indirectly benefit the PML-N candidate.
PPP voters consider both the PML-N and the PTI as their equal rivals, terming them two sides of the same coin.
PPP who has lost its major vote bank in the constituency due to its policy of reconciliation with its archrival PML-N.
The PPP has succeeded in reviving itself in the constituency through its candidate Faisal Mir and is expecting to get more than 5,000 votes despite getting only 25 hundred votes in the last general elections in NA-120.
ANP candidate pulls out:
The Awami National Party’s (ANP) candidate for NA-120 backed out hours before the election day in favour of Kulsoom Nawaz.
Ameer Bahadur Khan Hoti announced his withdrawal from the NA-120 by-poll. Hoti has backed out in favour of Kulsoom Nawaz.
Published in Daily Times, September 17th 2017.
