By-elections: Women barred from voting in Mianwali

ISLAMABAD: Polling for by-elections on six National Assembly (NA) seats and four seats of the provincial assemblies (PAs) is underway for which strict security measures have been taken to avoid any unpleasant incident, Geo News reported Saturday.

According to details, some political workers displayed arms at different polling stations in Badin while women were restricted to cast their votes in Mianwali constituency.

In NA 140 Kasur constituency, two groups exchanged fire that put a halt to polling process while police and Rangers reached the spot to take control of the situation.

Fake voters were spotted in NA 195 Rahim Yar Khan constituency where voting was done against fake or expired identity cards. The voters’ lists were allegedly changed in the constituency that sparked protest from the polling agents and voters. However, Assistant Election Commission Noor Leghari insisted that voters’ lists were not changed.

Preparations concluded for the polling on six National Assembly seats and two seats each for Punjab and Sindh Assemblies that began at 8 am today and would continue till 5 pm without any break. Due to cold weather, less turn out was witnessed in some constituencies.

The six NA constituencies on which by-elections are held include NA 9 Mardan I, NA 140 Kasur III, NA 148 Multan I, NA 149 Multan II, NA 168 Vehari III and NA 195 Rahim Yar Khan IV.

By-elections on two constituencies of Punjab Assembly include PP 18 Attock IV; PP 44 Mianwali II.

Sindh Assembly’s two constituencies include PS 53 Tando Mohammad Khan and PS 57 Badin I on which by-elections are being held.

The administration has done strict security measures while the Election Commission staff reached the polling stations along with polling material on Friday.

A neck-to-neck competition is expected between PPP, PML-N and other political parties in the by-elections.