2024 By-election in Lahore: A look at the political candidates

LAHORE: By-election is scheduled to take place on Sunday (today) in Lahore on one national and four provincial constituencies.

These elections come as vacancies emerged in several constituencies, including NA-199. The National Assembly seat from the NA-119 constituency was vacated by current Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz. Nawaz had chosen to retain her provincial seat while foregoing the national one.

Meanwhile at provincial level, the seats of PP-147, PP-149, PP-158, and PP-164 were left vacant by Hamza Shehbaz and current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

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A total of 1,579,473 voters are registered in the five constituencies, including 874,000 men and 732,177 women.

1,001 polling stations have been set up across the five constituencies. A monitoring and control room was also established with representatives from the election commission, police, and other relevant bodies present will be present around the clock during the election.

A total of 76 candidates are vying for seats in Lahore, with only three candidates representing major political parties in the by-election. Meanwhile, several political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), have chosen not to contest the current election, leaving the field open for independent candidates.

In NA-119, nine candidates are contesting, including Ali Pervez Malik of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Shahzad Farooq of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

Similarly, PP-147 will see 11 candidates in the fray, with eight running as independents. Among them are Malik Riaz of PML-N and Muhammad Khan Madani of the SIC.

PP-149 has 14 candidates, three from political parties and 11 independents. Main contender from this constituency is Zeeshan Rasheed of the SIC.

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In PP-158, 22 candidates are vying for a single seat, with 19 running independently. Chaudhry Nawaz of PML-N will face off against Moonis Elahi of the SIC.

In PP-164, 20 candidates are participating, with Rashid Minhas of PML-N and Muhammad Yusuf of the SIC among them. 17 candidates are contesting as independents in this constituency.

During the election, cellular and internet services will be suspended.