Polling concludes in NA-168 Bahawalpur by-election

The voting process for the by-election in Bahawalpur's NA-168 constituency concluded peacefully on Sunday. The contest was anticipated to be closely fought between PML-N's candidate Malik Munir Iqbal Channar and independent candidate Wali Dad Cheema, who are vying for the seat following the death of Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar in August.

The polling commenced at 8am and concluded at 5pm. Huda Gohar, spokesperson for the Election Commission of Pakistan, informed Dawn that voters within the polling station boundaries could still cast their votes after 5pm. Despite some disruptions, the polling process remained largely peaceful throughout the constituency. However, at a polling station in Akhtarabad, balloting was briefly halted due to a brawl involving voters, allegedly stemming from harassment of election staff by political workers.

The Provincial Election Commissioner Control Room promptly intervened, and the situation was subsequently resolved with the assistance of the police. As of the latest figures, there are 483,143 registered voters in the constituency, comprising 248,259 men and 234,614 women across 292 polling stations. At each polling station, 307 presiding officers and 941 polling officers and assistant presiding officers are on duty.

Prior to the by-election, the Punjab Home Department had requested the federal interior ministry to deploy troops of the army and Rangers (Punjab) to ensure a smooth, peaceful, and secure conduct of the election. In the days leading up to the by-poll, three individuals sustained injuries during an armed clash on September 12 in Baqirpur, connected to the election campaign of Wali Dad Cheema, the son of former PML-Q federal minister Tariq Bashir Cheema.

According to Rescue 1122 sources, the altercation erupted during Cheema's election rally, as supporters of rival candidates engaged in an exchange of gunfire, resulting in the injury of three people.