LODHRAN Feb 12 (TNS): Polling for the by-election in the National Assembly constituency of NA-154 concluded on Monday evening. The seat fell vacant in the wake of the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen by the Supreme Court in December 2017.
The government had deployed 4,000 security personnel, including army personnel, in the constituency in view of avoiding any unforeseen development and to ensure free and fair conduct.
The PTI has fielded Jahangir’s son Ali Tareen, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Iqbal Shah and Pakistan Peoples’ Party Mirza Mohammad Ali Baig. Seven other candidates are contesting as independents.
Jahangir Tareen, while speaking to the media after casting his vote, stated that there is no possibility of rigging in the by-election today with the presence of army personnel outside polling stations.
He said that the PTI will respond to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s notice of violating its code of conduct, adding that the institution did not take any notice when the PML-N legislators were running the campaign for their candidate.
Tareen said that he will accept the result of the by-poll whatever it may be, but added that the PTI candidate will surely defeat his opponents.
The polling process started at 8am and ended at 5pm.
In total, 338 polling stations were set up in the constituency, where 431,002 voters were expected to exercise their right to vote.
Overall, a low turnout has been witnessed in the by-election.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment in December 2017, had said that Jahanghir Tareen had pleaded guilty to insider trading and ruled that he cannot be termed honest and stands disqualified for life as per Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.
It had also said the PTI leader used suspicious terms in his statements to the court, besides not declaring his offshore company.
The district monitoring officer imposed a fine of Rs40,000 and Rs30,000 on Ali Tareen and Iqbal Shah respectively for violating the by-election’s code of conduct by engaging in political campaigning after the deadline.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has also issued a notice to both candidates for their violations.
