ECP notices officials over NA-77 polling violations

Polling concluded on Sunday in the by-elections for two Punjab assembly seats, Gujranwala’s NA-77 and Sahiwal’s PP-203, with both constituencies witnessing election-related controversies and heightened security arrangements.

Voting started at 8am and continued until 5pm. Voters who were inside polling stations when polling hours ended were allowed to cast their ballots.

The NA-77 seat became vacant after the death of five-time MNA Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk on September 11 following a prolonged illness. His son, Rashid Basheer Virk, contested the by-election against 17 other candidates.

Major opposition parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), stayed away from the contest.

The polling process faced allegations of violations of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) code of conduct. Notices were issued to Punjab MPA Qudsia Batool, MNA Saira Afzal Tarar and Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Culture Shazia Rizwan over reports that they had visited polling stations in NA-77.

The ECP also issued notices to MNA Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar and MPA Hina Arshad Warraich over similar allegations. All five officials were asked to appear before the election authorities at the Election Complex in Gujranwala at 3pm and explain their positions.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja visited the provincial election commissioner’s office and received a briefing on polling arrangements and the voting process in both constituencies.

Separately, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari alleged that supporters of Markazi Muslim League candidate Qazi Ibrahim Gujjar had been caught stamping ballot papers openly in the presence of election staff. She raised the allegation in a post on X.

The by-election also came amid scrutiny of Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s participation in the NA-77 campaign. The ECP had taken notice of his alleged visit to the constituency by helicopter and an address at a campaign gathering in support of Rashid Basheer Virk.

The commission said the activity appeared to breach its rules prohibiting public office holders from participating in election campaigns. It sought reports from the district monitoring officer and district returning officer and directed Tarar to appear before it in person. The ECP also indicated that the NA-77 result could be withheld pending a final decision.

In Sahiwal’s PP-203, the election was held following the death of PML-N MPA Chaudhry Muhammad Hanif Jutt on September 17 after a cardiac arrest.

The constituency has undergone another electoral contest since the 2024 general elections. Independent candidate Rai Murtaza Iqbal, backed by the PTI, initially won the seat with 55,874 votes, defeating Jutt, who secured 35,163 votes.

However, Iqbal and four other PTI-backed lawmakers were later disqualified and denotified by the ECP following their conviction by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad on July 31. A subsequent by-election, held on November 23, 2025, was won by Jutt with 46,820 votes. His rival, independent candidate Falik Sher, received 10,975 votes.

For Sunday’s polling, authorities established 185 polling stations across PP-203 and deployed 1,370 election staff, including 574 women and 796 men.

District Police Officer Usman Tipu said 1,100 police personnel had been assigned security duties. The polling stations were divided into three categories, with 11 placed in Category A, 37 in Category B and 137 in Category C.

Authorities also introduced a traffic management plan, deploying more than 65 personnel to facilitate voters and maintain traffic flow around polling stations.