Imran makes history in Oct 16 by-polls

Imran Khan won six National Assembly seats for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a by-election on Sunday that was seen as a direct contest between the former ruling party and the current ruling coalition, which also grabbed two seats.

Out of the eight National Assembly seats previously held by the PTI, Imran contested on seven, while Meher Bano Qureshi was to defend the party’s bastion in Multan. However, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made inroads, with Hakeem Baloch winning in Karachi and Ali Musa Gilani in Multan.

According to the unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Imran won the National Assembly seats from Mardan, Charsadda and Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Faisalabad and Nankana Sahib in Punjab and the Korangi district of Karachi in Sindh.

The PPP won in Multan, Punjab and Malir district of Karachi. Besides, by-polls were also held on three seats of the Punjab Assembly previously held by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). According to the unofficial results, the PTI emerged victorious on two seats, while the PML-N retained one.

The results gave both sides something to go ahead. Based on PTI’s popularity and its momentum, many expected that the party would clean sweep but this didn’t happen. Victories in Multan and Karachi for the joint candidates for PPP and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) also gave face-saving to the PPP.

The voting remained peaceful, though there were sporadic incidents of clashes. PTI Karachi President Bilal Ghaffar was injured in an alleged attack in Malir. In Peshawar, there were heated arguments between PTI and the Awami National Party (ANP) workers. However, polling continued on police intervention.

The turnout, however, remained low. Experts believed that both sides – the ruling alliance and the PTI – should be worried because of the abysmal voter turnout in several constituencies despite massive campaigning by both sides.

The by-elections were triggered by the PTI’s decision to resign en masse from the assembly after the removal of the party government through a vote of no-confidence in April this year. Sunday’s voting was held on seats where the resignations were accepted by Speaker Raja Parvaiz Ashraf.

The by-elections were held on three seats in K-P, three seats in Punjab and two seats in Sindh. And it was unprecedented in the country’s political history that one candidate, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, contested for as many as seven National Assembly seats.

The results

According to the unofficial results, Imran single-handedly trounced the ruling alliance in at least five out of eight constituencies of the National Assembly. He defeated several bigwigs, including Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and Aimal Wali Khan of the ANP as well as Abid Sher Ali of the PML-N.

In NA-108 (Faisalabad-VIII), the real contest was witnessed between Imran Khan and PDM’s joint candidate Abid Sher Ali. Imran bagged 79,453 votes against Abid Sher Ali’s 59,187 votes. In the 2018 elections, PTI’s Farrukh Habib had defeated Abid Sher Ali by securing 112,182 votes.

Similarly, in NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II), Imran defeated PDM’s joint candidate Dr Shezra Mansab Ali Khan. Imran bagged 59,815 votes against Dr Khan’s 53,528 votes. In the 2018 general elections, PTI’s Ijaz Ahmad Shah won this seat by getting 63,918 votes against Dr Khan’s 61,395 votes.

In NA-157 (Multan-IV), Ali Musa Gillani, son of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, of the PPP defeated Mehar Bano Qureshi, daughter of PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, by securing 79,743 votes. Qureshi, by contrast, polled 59,993 votes.

In NA-31 (Peshawar) the PTI chairman secured 57,824 votes while ANP's Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilor secured 32,253 votes. Imran Khan won NA-22 (Mardan) by polling 76,681 votes, while Maulana Muhammad Qasim of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam clinched 68,181 votes. In NA-24 Charsadda, Imran won by getting 78,589 votes against ANP’s provincial President Aimal Wali Khan, who garnered 68,356 votes.

In NA-237 (Malir} Abdul Hakeem Baloch of the PPP secured 32,567 votes, against Imran Khan, who barely collected 22,493 votes. In NA-239 Korangi, Imran won by securing 50,014 votes while Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Nayyar Raza got 18,116 votes.

By-elections were also held for three Punjab Assembly constituencies – PP-139 (Sheikhupura-V), PP-209 (Khanewal-VII) and PP-241 (Bahawalnagar-V). The by-elections were triggered after two PML-N provincial lawmakers had resigned, while one seat fell vacant after a PML-N lawmaker was disqualified.

The PDM-backed Chaudhry Iftikar Bhangu of the PML-N won PP-139 (Sheikhupura-V) by securing 23,765 votes. In PP-209 (Khanewal-VII), PTI’s Muhammad Faisal Niazi defeated PDM-backed Chaudhry Ziaur Rehman by securing 71,586 votes. Rehman emerged as runner-up with 57,864 votes. Similarly, in PP-241 (Bahawalnagar-V), PTI’s Malik Muzaffar Awan bagged 55,005 votes against PML-N Amanullah Bajwa’s 48,650 votes.