PML-N’s Nosheen Iftikhar won the high stakes Daska NA-75 by-poll, having bagged 1,11,220 votes, according to unofficial results from 41 polling stations, while the ruling PTI’s Ali Asjad Malhi is trailing with 92,19 votes.
Unofficial results from a majority of the 360 polling stations are arrive.
Polling began at 8am and continued uninterrupted till 5pm in the constituency, where a close contest was expected between the PTI and the PML-N.
After 5pm, only those voters who were inside the polling stations were allowed to cast their votes.Other than the PML-N and the PTI, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) Khalil Sandhu is also in the run.
Rangers are on patrol duty, ensuring the transportation of election staff and material, while army troops have been stationed in Daska Stadium and will be available on call.
People in line to cast their votes in NA-75 re-election. — DawnNewsTV
To make the conduct of the re-poll transparent, CCTV cameras have been installed at 47 sensitive polling stations, out of a total 360.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided that the presiding officers will sign the Form 45 (final results) inside the polling stations in the presence of polling agents of the respective candidates before they leave the premises, while no political figure will be allowed to meet the RO while receiving the election results.
The NA-75 seat fell vacant after the death of PML-N MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan alias Zahry Shah in August 2020. The by-poll was delayed for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ECP had withheld the results of the Feb 19 by-poll in Daska due to violence, rigging and the disappearance of over 20 presiding officers and ordered a re-election in the entire constituency. The order was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Friday said that all eyes will be on Daska as the people of the constituency will be representing the sentiments of the country’s 220 million-strong population.
“The people of Daska have been given another chance to exact revenge from the vote stealing government, which has snatched bread from the people’s mouth while also taking away development from Pakistan,” she said.
The government’s fears will prove to be true, she said, adding that the people of the constituency will cast their vote in order to avenge the deaths of those killed on Feb 19.
She stated that voters will demonstrate their lack of confidence in the current government by casting their vote, adding that incompetent governance had endangered the country’s security.
“Daska will expose those who made false promises and have taken the country thirty years back in the span of three,” she said.
She said that the people of Daska will not only guard the sanctity of the vote but will also protect polling staff.
