-Suspects opened fire near five polling stations in Sialkot
-Punjab government blames PML-N leader for the clash
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Sialkot: Clashes between the workers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Sialkot’s NA-75 constituency on Friday has led to the death of at least two, while eight others were reported as injured, it emerged.
Unidentified suspects opened fire near five polling stations, including Main Bazar, Gondka polling station and Rangeela Chowk in Daska, during the NA-75 by-elections. Voting at five polling stations has been halted.
Three critical patients have been moved to a hospital in Gujranwala. The dead have been identified as Majid and Zeeshan and belong to the PTI and the PML-N, respectively. The incident created panic among voters, however, the situation was brought under control after the arrival of police. A clash also erupted between the two parties at Sohdra polling station in Wazirabad during PP-51 poll. The clash caused a woresnig of the traffic situation in the area.
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has taken notice of the shooting in Daska and ordered the inspector general of Punjab (IGP) to submit a report of the incident, and has also ordered the immediate arrest of the perpetrators, stating that no violation of the law shall be allowed. The government will take indiscriminate action against those found guilty, he added.
Similarly, the Punjab CM’s special aide, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, blamed PML-N Punjab president Rana Sanaullah for the clash, alleging that PML-N was resorting to its “traditional thuggery” under Sanaullah’s supervision. Lending his own insight into this allegation, PTI leader Usman Dar while speaking to a local news outlet questioned Sanaullah’s presence in the constituency, remarking that it was a clear violation of the ECP’s code of conduct.
“We will register an FIR against Rana Sanaullah. He brought armed men with him and resorted to firing,” he accused. “If these people thing NA-75 is their stronghold, what are PML-N MPAs and Maryam Safdar doing holding jalsas in the area?” he asked. On the other side of the board, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz spoke out against the authorities and shared a video of the party’s supporters breaking doors of a polling station after they were purportedly made to wait outside for hours. “PML-N voters in Daska lose patience, protest & break down doors of a polling station after being made to wait for hours as polling time draws to an end. Sharam kero,” she tweeted.
Moreover PML-N stalwart Marriyum Aurangzeb held the ruling party responsible for the violence and asked the election commission to extend the time frame for voting in the affected polling stations.
According to a statement issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the vacant seats on which by-polls are being held include NA-45 Kurram, NA-75 Sialkot, PP-51 Gujranwala and PK-63 Nowshera.
The seat of NA-75 Tehsil Daska, District Sialkot was vacated after the death of PML-N’s MNA Syed Iftikhar-ud-Din in August 2020. Provincial Assembly seat PP-51 Wazirabad was vacated due to death of PML-N MPA Chaudhry Shaukat Manzoor Cheema in June 2020 due to coronavirus. PML-N has fielded women candidates for both the seats in the by-elections. Noshin Iftikhar, daughter of late Syed Iftikhar-ud-Din, has been given party ticket in NA-75 constituency. Ali Asjad is PTI coalition’s candidate for the seat. PML-N leader Noshin Iftikhar has alleged police officers of rigging in the polls.
In Daska, around 360 polling stations have been set up and the total number of voters is 44,003. The contest is between Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar of PML-N and Ali Asjad of PTI. In Kurram, 27 candidates are contesting with the main competition expected among PTI’s Fakharuzzaman Bangash, JUI-F’s Jamil Khan and independent candidate Haji Syed Jamal. The constituency has 134 polling stations for 180,931 voters. The voting in by-elections in two National Assembly and two provincial assembly constituencies got underway at 08:00 AM and it had been initially slated to continue till 05:00 PM without any interval.
