The Election Tribunal at the Lahore High Court (LHC) has overturned the victory of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Rana Arshad in the PP-133 Nankana Sahib constituency.
Muhammad Atif, an independent candidate backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), contended that he originally won the PP-133 seat in the general elections by over 3500 votes and was duly recognized by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, following an ECP-ordered recount, Rana Arshad was declared the winner by a margin exceeding 2500 votes, a result Atif challenged as unlawful.
Supporting Atif’s claims, the Election Tribunal invalidated the ECP’s notification of Rana Arshad’s victory, effectively annulling his seat in the Punjab Assembly.
In a related event, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) mandated a recount in the PP-269 Muzaffargarh constituency by May 17. This order followed a petition by independent candidate Muhammad Iqbal, who claimed victory based on initial results but was later placed second in the official count. The petitioner revealed that his rival, PPP’s Mian Alamdar Abbas, had resigned on March 20 to avoid a recount.
The IHC ruled that a by-election would be necessary to resolve the constituency’s representation if the recount confirms the current results.
