Voters in two Punjab constituencies go to the polls today in by-elections for a National Assembly seat in Gujranwala and a Punjab Assembly seat in the Sahiwal region, with polling from 8am to 5pm.
The Election Commission has registered 776,742 voters across the two seats: around 518,620 in NA-77 Gujranwala-I, with 333 polling stations, and 258,122 in PP-203 Sahiwal-VI, with 185 polling stations.
Both seats fell vacant after the deaths of PML-N lawmakers in September. Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk, a five-time National Assembly member from NA-77, died on 11 September after a prolonged illness. In PP-203, Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif Jutt died of a cardiac arrest on 17 September, under a year after winning the seat in a by-election.
The PML-N has fielded relatives of the late lawmakers to defend both seats: Rashid Bashir Virk, son of the former NA-77 member, in Gujranwala, and Muhammad Asad Hanif Jutt, nephew of the late PP-203 member, in Sahiwal-VI on the lion symbol. Seven candidates are contesting PP-203, including Awais Mahmood Gujjar of Tehreek-e-Ehsaas Pakistan on the streetlight symbol and five independents.
The PTI is boycotting both contests and will neither field candidates nor back independents. Several other major parties, including the PPP, Jamaat-e-Islami and JUI-F, are also staying out of PP-203, leaving the PML-N, independents and smaller groups as the main contenders.
Security has been tightened for polling day. The Army and Punjab Rangers are deployed in both constituencies from 7 to 9 November at the Election Commission’s request, with the Rangers the second tier of security and the Army on standby as the third. Punjab Police remain the primary force at polling stations.
Campaigning ended at midnight between 6 and 7 November, and the election silence period is now in force. Voters can check their registration by sending their identity card number, without hyphens, to the commission’s 8300 SMS service.
The results are unlikely to change the balance of power in either assembly, but the contests matter to the PML-N as it seeks to hold both seats, and to the families of the late lawmakers.
