Lahore: Annual elections for various bar councils across Punjab are underway, with polling ongoing in most districts, while the District Bar Sheikhupura elections have been postponed, officials said.
Read more: Punjab Bar Council elections to be held on Nov 1
In Lahore, polling for the Lahore Bar Association started in the morning and will continue until 5 PM. A total of 27 candidates are contesting eight seats, including the presidency, vice presidency, secretary, joint secretary, finance secretary, and library secretary positions. Candidates vying for the presidency include Adeeb Aslam Bhinder, Shahid Jamal Butt, and Irfan Hayat Bajwa, while five candidates are contesting the vice president post. Approximately 15,851 registered voters are expected to cast their votes.
In Sheikhupura, the elections were postponed due to the reconstitution of the election board, which made it impossible to complete scrutiny in a single day. The elections are now scheduled for January 17. The previous election board was annulled, and fresh verification of documents and ballot papers will be conducted before polling.
Polling is also underway in Gojra, where 397 lawyers are voting amid a close contest between the Ittehad Group and the GDA Group. In Gujranwala, 3,460 lawyers are casting votes via biometric verification, with a competitive race for president, general secretary, and other key posts.
In Rawalpindi, the District Bar Association elections have begun for the 2026–27 term, with 27 candidates contesting and some positions filled unopposed. Multan and Bahawalnagar are also holding elections, with Multan seeing 18 candidates contesting seven seats, while most positions in Bahawalnagar are uncontested except for the presidency.
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The Punjab Bar Council has urged voters to carry their original council cards and participate peacefully. The elections are seen as crucial for leadership representation and professional governance in the province’s legal community.