Islamabad: The ruling PML-N grabbed the lion’s share of seats in Pakistan’s biggest ever by-elections held in 41 constituencies consolidating its grip on power.
The polls, generally held in a peaceful and transparent manner except in some constituencies where women were not allowed to vote, was also marked with some big upsets.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik- e-Insaf lost two of its key seats of National Assembly that were vacated by none other than the party chief himself. The spree of upsets did not spare the PML-N either that lost three seats in the Punjab Assembly, considered as the ruling party’s bastion.
Two of these seats were vacated by the PML-N’s bigwigs – Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa.
The overall, unofficial NA results suggest that PML-N won five seats, PPP won two seats, Imran’s party three and Awami National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) each won a seat. By-polls on Punjab Assembly seats were a PML-N show where it got 12 out of 15 seats. (PTI)
