ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan made history on Sunday after he managed to win the most number of National Assembly seats simultaneously in six constituencies.
Khan won five NA seats in the 2018 elections.
The polling was held on seven National Assembly seats on Sunday, which were, 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.
The hallmark of the October 2022 by-polls was that PTI Chairman Imran Khan contested all the NA seats except one that is NA-157, where the party had fielded Meher Bano Qureshi, daughter of party Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi against PDM’s candidate Ali Musa Gilani.
However, Khan lost Malir’s seat to PPP’s Hakim Baloch and won six seats breaking his own record that he set in the last general elections.
Prior to Imran Khan, PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto contested on five seats simultaneously. The former PM emerged victorious on four seats and lost one.
The elections were held on the National Assembly seats that fall vacant after the resignation of PTI lawmakers following the ouster of Imran Khan from the PM Office through a no-confidence motion in April.
Unofficial results of National Assembly seats are as follows:
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NA-22 Mardan-III
PTI Chairman Imran Khan secured victory by obtaining 76,681 votes while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) candidate Muhammad Qasim stood second with 68,181 votes, according to unofficial and unconfirmed results of all polling stations.
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NA-24 Charsadda-II
Unconfirmed and unofficial results from 226 polling stations show that PTI candidate Imran Khan was leading with 44,959 votes while ANP’s Aimal Wali Khan is behind with 39,821 votes.
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NA-31 Peshawar-V
According to unconfirmed and unofficial results from all polling stations, PTI Chairman Imran Khan secured victory by obtaining 57,824 votes while ANP candidate Ghulam Ahmed Bilour stood second by securing 32,253 votes.
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NA-108 Faisalabad-VIII
Unconfirmed and unofficial results from 251 polling stations showed that Imran Khan was leading with 68,245 votes. PML-N’s Abid Sher Ali has so far secured 51,367 votes.
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NA-118 Nankana Sahib-II
According to unofficial and preliminary results of 141 polling stations, PTI candidate Imran Khan was in the lead with 37,455 votes while PML-N’s Shezra Mansab Ali trailed with 32,765 votes.
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NA-237 Malir-II
PPPP candidate Abdul Hakeem Baloch was leading with 23,760 votes while PTI chief Imran Khan is behind with 18,541 votes, as per unofficial and unconfirmed results from 158 polling stations.
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NA-239 Korangi
PTI candidate Imran Khan was leading with 12084 votes, as per unofficial results of 81 polling stations. MQM-Pakistan candidate Syed Nayer Raza was behind with 2142 votes.
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NA 157 Multan-IV
According to unconfirmed and unofficial results of all polling stations, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Ali Musa Gillani secured victory with 79,743 votes.
PTI’s Meher Bano Qureshi was runner-up with 59,993 votes.
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Unofficial results of Punjab Assembly seats are as follows:
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PP-139 Sheikhupura-V
Winner: PML-N’s Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed
Runner up: PTI’s Muhammad Abu Bakr
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PP-209 Khanewal VII
Winner: Faisal Khan Niazi (PTI) 71,586 votes
Runner up: Chaudhry Zia-ur Rehman (PML-N) 57,864 votes.
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PP-241 Bahawalnagar-V
Winner: Malik Muzaffar (PTI) 59,956 votes
Runer up: AmanUllah Bajwa (PML-N) 48,047 votes
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PTI leader Bilal Ghaffar ‘attacked’
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Karachi chapter President Bilal Ghaffar is reported to have been physically assaulted in Karachi’s Malir area by unknown men during by-elections.
As per details, PTI leader Bilal Ghaffar was visiting different polling stations in Malir NA-237 when unknown miscreants manhandled him in the Bakra Piri area.
The PTI leader has been moved to a nearby hospital for first aid.
Imran Khan urges masses to vote
Former prime minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan have urged the masses to turn out to vote in all the constituencies where by-elections are being held today.
In his tweet, Imran Khan said: “This is a referendum for Haqiqi Azadi from the cabal of crooks”.
Code of conduct violations
A number of code of conduct violations were reported during the by-elections on eight NA and three Punjab Assembly seats.
In Multan, a voter in Multan after casting a vote in favour of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate clicked the picture of the ballot paper and shared it on social media.
In Faisalabad, during the by-election on NA-108 Faisalabad, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz voters are allegedly being allowed to take cell phones with them in the polling booth. One of the voters after giving voters in favor of PML-N shared the picture of the ballot paper.
Similarly in Mardan, ECP’s code of conduct was also violated during by-elections on NA-22 as one of the voters shared a picture of the ballot paper.
