An independent candidate has taken lead over PML-N candidate in the by-election of PP-78, Jhang.
According to unofficial results obtained from 87 polling stations, Maulana Masroor Nawaz, an independent candidate backed by Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, has secured 24, 127 votes.
On the other hand, PML-N candidate Azad Nasir Ansari has so far managed to bag 17997 votes.
The vote count is under way after a daylong polling in Jhang, where public holiday was declared to facilitate voters.
A strong contest is expected between the PML-N and the independent candidate.
The Punjab Assembly’s constituency had fallen vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified Rashida Yaqoob of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) for concealing assets while upholding a decision of an election tribunal in October.
She was elected to the assembly in the 2013 general elections and runner-up candidate Mr Ludhianvi had challenged her election.
Then the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that it would hold by-poll in the constituency on Dec 1 for which Mr Ludhianvi as well as Ms Yaqoob also filed their nomination papers. However, this time Ms Yaqoob was an independent candidate
