Hotly contested: Minor clashes between PTI, PML-N at Pindi’s PP-6

Amid low turnout, PML-N candidate likely to win.

RAWALPINDI:

A clash between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists erupted at a polling station in Rawalpindi’s PP-6 constituency, where both political parties were pitched in a close by-elections battle for the Punjab Assembly seat.

The fight erupted between workers of the rival political parties outside the Government Primary School polling station in Dhoke Gangal. No injuries were reported, according to the police.

Political workers of both parties also fought with army personnel deployed at the polling station in the morning. The workers were trying to get into the polling station forcibly when security officials stopped them. In the resulting scuffle, army officials gave the political workers a show of force of their own.

Low turnout

Voter turnout remained around 30 to 35 per cent on average at the 155 polling stations in PP-6 (Rawalpindi -VI), which was vacated by PML-N leader and incumbent Interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar.

Nisar had edged past PTI’s Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi by a slim margin of only 2,428 votes during the general elections.

The result was considered controversial because it was finalised after several recounts and PTI workers leveled allegations of rigging against the PML-N.

Abbasi got the PTI’s ticket for the by-elections but his chances of victory were slim even before the by-polls considering voter trends of supporting candidates from the ruling political party-in this case the PML-N, which controls the houses in both Lahore and Islamabad.

Unsurprisingly, the PML-N’s Chaudhry Sarfaraz Afzal appeared to be leading the race against his PTI rival, according to unconfirmed results from some polling stations and polling-day observations.

Political observers said PML-N political workers appeared to be more active in mobilising their voters than their counterparts in the PTI.

Ammar Mehdi Raja of the Pakistan People’s Party was also among the 10 candidates contesting for the PP-6 seat.

Around 2,500 police personnel were deployed at the constituency’s polling stations --- 21 of which were declared highly sensitive.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2013.