PTI’s Zain Qureshi, the son of PTI leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Sunday won Multan’s PP-217 constituency bagging 46,963 votes as per unofficial results.
According to unofficial results from all 124 polling stations, Zain’s opponent Muhammad Salman Naeem of PML-N stood second with 40,104 votes.
Talking to a news channel, Zain Qureshi said it was not his win but the victory of Imran Khan’s narrative, adding that the voter turnout, estimated to be 42% during the by-polls, was very good. Qureshi alleged that throughout the day, the PML-N-led Punjab government and its officials flouted the election’s code of conduct. He also pointed out that the PPP’s Ali Haider Gilani continued visiting different police stations under security protocol.
“I have video evidence of that, which I will send to the returning officer so that action could be taken against them,” he said.
The polling in 20 constituencies of Punjab, which started at 8am today, came to an end at 5pm amid reports of isolated clashes and arrests. The counting of votes is underway, and according to unofficial results, the PTI was in the lead by 8pm, says a news report.
During the day, Punjab police arrested senior PTI leader Shahbaz Gill for allegedly visiting different polling booths with his security guards who were dressed as FC personnel. Meanwhile, the ECP issued a notice to PTI Vice-President Shah Mehmood Qureshi for violating Article 56 of the Election Commission’s code of conduct by visiting different polling stations, holding press briefings within the limits of the PP-217 Multan constituency, and launching an illegal raid along with supporters. The ECP took notice of the fight in Lahore’s PP-158 and ordered the district returning officer to review the situation in the constituency and contact security officials. A scuffle broke out between the PTI and PML-N workers during the polling process in Lahore’s constituency PP-158. As a result, one of the PML-N workers sustained a head injury.