Lodhran by-poll: Sharif surprised by ‘unthinkable victory’

Advises judiciary not to forget the Day of Judgment before issuing verdicts

LAHORE: Deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif has termed his party’s victory in the Lodhran by-election ‘unthinkable’, indicating that the poll result was not just unpredictable for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as well.

“This unthinkable result is a victory of our efforts to restore the sanctity of vote. People are responding to our efforts otherwise this wouldn’t have happened,” Sharif said on Wednesday while talking to the media after expressing condolences with Mufti Raghib Naeemi on the death of his grandmother.



In a major setback for the PTI ahead of the June 2018 general elections, its candidate Ali Tareen on Monday lost a crucial by-poll in the National Assembly’s NA-154 constituency of Punjab’s Lodhran district to their archrival, the PML-N with a considerable margin.

“This was Almighty’s blessing that we managed to turn the tables on our opponents by winning the seat by a sizable margin. People consider our victory in Lodhran as unthinkable and unimaginable. We will take our message of restoring the sanctity of vote to every nook and corner of the country,” he added.

He advised the judges to keep the Day of Judgment in mind before doing justice. “Judges should bear in mind that they will be held accountable for their judgments,” he said.



He said their political rivals, the PTI, indulged in the politics of lies, accusations and blame game but it had brought them no good.

“Despite all what they have done, they were declared honest and righteous by our honourable courts while I was disqualified for not taking pay from my son,” he added.

According to a source, the PML-N was not very confident of winning the NA-154 by-poll, and it was the lack of confidence in the PML-N camp that no senior leader took part in the election campaign.