Daily Times

JHELUM: Polling for the hotly contested NA-63 by-election commenced early morning on Wednesday after intense campaigning by rival political parties, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

According to details, polling for NA-63 Jhelum by-elections commenced from 8 am and is expected to continue uninterrupted till 5 pm. In what is being touted as an intense battle between the three heavyweight candidates, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry, PML-N’s Raja Matloob and PPP’s Jahangir Mirza, the contest is expected to go down to the wire.

Items and materials needed for the by-elections were delivered to the polling stations on Tuesday night. Police and Rangers personnel together will assure security and safety arrangements for the voters. The total number of registered voters for the constituency are 428,257 out of which female voters are 198,900 whereas the male voters are 229,357. The seat fell vacant after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s candidate Raja Iqbal Mehdi passed away.

On the other hand, by-elections for the provincial seat of PP-232 will be held on Wednesday after MPA Yousuf Kasila was disqualified for concealing assets. 11 candidates in total will be battling for this constituency, out of which the contest is expected to be fierce between PTI’s Ayesha Nazeer Butt and PML-N’s Yousuf Kasila. The total number of registered voters for the provincial seat are 191,092. 157 polling stations have been set up for the by-elections and security arrangements have also been completed.