Along with the ruling party, PML-N, PPP and TLP, about 16 independent candidates are also vying for the PP-206 seat, which will be up for grabs in soon to be held by-polls.
This election will be held on December 16 for the seat which fell vacant after the death of former PML-N MPA Nishat Khan Daha on October 23. Daha’s wife Noorin Nishat Daha will be contesting the seat on a PTI ticket. Whereas Rana Saleem, disgruntled PTI leader, will stand in the election on a PML-N ticket. Along with him, Mir Wasiq from PPP and Sheikh Muhammad Akmal from Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan are also in the fray.
In the 2018 general elections, Nishat Daha won the seat with 51,353 votes, while Rana Muhammad Saleem, who contested from the PTI platform, got 47,807 votes. Mir Syed Wasiq Haider of PPP came in third with 6,617 votes and Muhammad Amir Sohail of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) was fourth with 5,764 votes. Interestingly, in this by-election campaign, Noorin, the wife of Daha, has joined the PTI while Saleem has joined the ranks of PML-N.
Among those who initially submitted nomination papers for this by-election were Nishat Daha’s widow Noorin Nishat, Rana Muhammad Saleem, Rana Haseeb Saleem, Rana Wasim Hanif, Masood Majeed Daha, Waqar Khan Daha, Manzoor Sultani, Muhammad Akmal, Imran Pervez Dhool, Ghulam Ghous, Sara Khan Daha, Mir Wasiq, Rana Farman, Rana Irfan, Rana Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Imran, Colonel (r) Abid Khagga, Muhammad Tanveer, Muhammad Sulaiman and Muhammad Amjad. According to the final list, 13 candidates will contest this constituency on December 16.
According to the ECP, 183 polling stations will be set up for the by-elections, out of which 62 will be for male voters and 60 for female voters, while 61 polling stations will be for both. According to the ECP, the constituency has 230,698 voters, out of which 125,190 are male and 105,508 female. Nishat Khan Daha had won the election on a PML-N ticket and later joined the PTI camp.
Meanwhile, local PTI leaders and workers are also angry with their leadership and party. They continued to convey the message that if Daha was given their place in the camp, then in the next election they will be in the camp of PML-N. But for a short time after the death of Nishat Daha, this election will be able to change the sympathy of the workers of both parties. Now that the PML-N has given its ticket to a former PTI leader, many local PML-N leaders have also gone to the Daha camp in anger, and the Hiraj group, which was less visible in their election campaign, is now fully behind Noorin Nishat.
The central and local leadership of PTI does not seem to be campaigning for Noorin Nishat in this election. The local leadership has claimed that projects worth Rs4 billion would start after the elections. But the people who are suffering from inflation may not fall for this enticement. Some recent steps of the PTI may also prove to be beneficial for their opponent. On the contrary, PML-N already has a vote bank in this constituency and if the former leader of PTI is their candidate then this could prove to be a plus point for them. Central and local leadership, Hamza Shahbaz team and PML-N divisional president Abdul Rehman Khan Kanjo’s team are also engaged in the election campaign.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) campaigners have set up camp in Khanewal along with Gilanis from Sindh. According to sources, a large quantity of flags has also been brought from Sindh and hung in the constituency. But no significant results are expected. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik is also campaigning vigorously and fully using the religion card in its campaign.
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