With the general elections inching closer, a tough completion is expected between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Punjab former chief minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent candidate Aliya Hamza Malik on February 8. The general elections are set to be staged on February 8 after much ado and the people eligible to cast the ballot will vote to decide the future of the world’s fifth-largest democracy. As many as 13 different candidates are vying for the NA-118 (previously NA-124 Lahore-II) seat. During the 2018 elections, PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz won polls from the constituency by securing 146,294 votes with a 48.5% voter turnout. The Lahore constituency is considered a stronghold of the PML-N as the former ruling party’s heavyweight Shahid Khaqan Abbasi swept October 2018 by-polls by securing 75012 votes as Hamza withdrew from it and retained his provincial assembly seat. JIP’ Muhammad Shoukat, JUI-F’s Muhammad Afzal, MML’s Muhammad Ijaz Malik, and TLP’s Abid Hussain are contesting the polls from the constituency, besides independent candidates. Over 0.7 million voters are expected to exercise their democratic right next Thursday.