Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Sunday retained NA-120 Lahore constituency as it candidate Begum Kulsoom Nawaz defeated her main rival Dr Yasmeen Rashid of the PTI with a margin of 14,513 votes in the by-election held amid extraordinary security.
According to unofficial results, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz secured 58,326 votes and Dr Yasmeen Rashid 43,813 votes.
Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Faisal Mir could not perform well in the constituency which remained a stronghold of the party till 1985.
Begum Kulsoom won the seat, which fell vacant due to thedisqualification of her husband former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Both Begum Kulsoom and Dr Yasmeen Rashid of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) could not cast their votes as the former was in the United Kingdom for her treatment while the latter’s vote was not registered in the NA-120 constituency.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ziauddin Ansari and Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, independent, were the other prominent cnadidates among the total
44 who were in the field.
For the first time in the country, some 100 biometric voting machines were used on trial basis at 39 polling stations.
There are total 321,786 registered voters in the constituency, including 179,642 male and 142,144 female. The Election Commission
of Pakistan (ECP) had established 220 polling stations – 103 for male, 98 for female and 19 combined – with total 573 polling booths (312 for male and 261 for female).
The polling remained peaceful throughout the day as no major complaint was lodged by any party.
Police were remained fully alert for a quick response, reaching a place within five minutes of receiving any complaint.
At least 8,000 policemen including six SPs, 18 DSPs, 46 SHOs, remained on-guard to ensure peaceful voting process and implement the ECP’s code of conduct.
No one was allowed to move with armed private guards during the election, whereas zero tolerance policy was adopted in displaying or carrying of arms, and jubilant firing. (APP)
