The ruling PML-N looks set to hold both seats in Sunday’s Punjab by-elections, with unofficial tallies placing its candidates ahead in NA-77, Gujranwala-I, and PP-203, Chichawatni. The Election Commission has not yet issued its final notification for either seat, so both outcomes remain unofficial for now.
In NA-77, Rashid Bashir Virk of the PML-N took 43,365 votes across the constituency’s 333 polling stations, against 30,218 for Muhammad Ibrahim Gujjar of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League. Turnout was 15.6 per cent; the PTI, PPP and Jamaat-e-Islami fielded no candidates. The seat fell vacant on the death on 11 September of five-time MNA Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk after a prolonged illness; the party nominated his son Rashid.
In PP-203, Muhammad Asad Hanif Jutt of the PML-N won 41,912 votes, defeating Muhammad Awais Mahmood of Tehreek-i-Ehsas Pakistan, who polled 25,106, per Returning Officer Khudadad Tarar’s unofficial tally. The margin was 16,806 votes, with turnout at 27.6 per cent. The seat fell vacant on the death of Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif Jutt from cardiac arrest on 17 September, and the party fielded Asad Hanif Jutt, described by local sources as the late lawmaker’s nephew.
In Chak Beig, the native village of PTI-backed MPA Nasir Cheema, not one of the 1,153 registered voters cast a ballot. Residents told journalists they stayed away because the road into the village had remained unbuilt for years and the area had been neglected, with mosque loudspeakers urging a boycott.
The Election Commission also served explanation notices on five PML-N women lawmakers over alleged code-of-conduct breaches: MNAs Saira Afzal Tarar and Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, MPAs Hina Arshad Warraich and Qudsia Batool, and parliamentary secretary Shazia Rizwan. It had earlier taken notice of Information Minister Attaullah Tarar campaigning in NA-77 and warned the result there could be withheld pending a final decision.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz congratulated the two candidates, with the prime minister saying the outcome reflected public confidence in the party’s development agenda. The congratulations do not settle the contests: both results stand as unofficial until the Election Commission issues its notification.
