By-Election Polling Concludes Across 6 NA and 7 Punjab Assembly Seats

Polling in six National Assembly constituencies and seven Punjab Assembly constituencies concluded as the scheduled time expired, with voters already inside the stations allowed to cast their ballots. Voting in the 13 constituencies ran from 8 am to 5 pm and took place in major cities including Lahore, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha, Mianwali, Muzaffargarh, and Haripur. Citizens marked their preferred candidates’ names and symbols.

Authorities declared 408 of the 2,792 polling stations as highly sensitive and 1,032 as sensitive, deploying over 20,000 personnel to maintain law and order during the polls.

In NA-18 Haripur, nine candidates contested, with a close race expected between PTI-backed independent Shehrnaz, PML-N’s Babar Nawaz Khan, and PPP’s Irum Fatima. This seat fell vacant after PTI’s Omar Ayub was disqualified following his conviction in the 9 May case.

NA-96 Faisalabad saw 16 candidates, with PML-N’s Bilal Badar Chaudhry competing against several independents. The seat became vacant due to PTI’s Rai Haider Ali Kharal’s disqualification. In NA-104 Faisalabad, PML-N’s Raja Daniyal faced four independent candidates following the conviction of Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Hamid Raza.

The high-profile NA-129 Lahore by-election was held after the passing of Mian Muhammad Azhar, father of former federal minister Hammad Azhar. NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan witnessed a contest between PML-N’s Mehmood Qadir Leghari and PPP’s Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa, vacated after PTI’s Zartaj Gul Wazir lost eligibility in the 9 May case. NA-104 Sahiwal also went to polls after PTI-backed Rai Hasan Nawaz was disqualified by the Anti-Terrorism Court.

Seven Punjab Assembly seats—PP-73 Sargodha, PP-87 Mianwali, PP-98 Faisalabad, PP-115 Faisalabad, PP-116 Faisalabad, PP-203 Faisalabad, and PP-269 Muzaffargarh—also held by-elections alongside the NA constituencies.

The by-elections mark a crucial political contest across Pakistan, with results likely to influence party positions ahead of upcoming general elections.