LAHORE, Jan 15: Except for a couple of minor incidents, the byelection in PP-142 was held in a peaceful manner here on Wednesday.

Police baton-charged supporters of PML-N candidate Inamullah Khan Niazi in his presence in front of Mori Gate’s Victoria Girls High School women polling station.

Two workers suffered head injuries and a number of women activists were abused and beaten by the police. The PML-N leaders alleged that the baton-charge had been led by the SP city.

The voter turnout was low because of the lack of interest among the people and extreme cold weather before noon. Except for minor objections by the agents of the candidates, no major discrepancy was reported in the electoral rolls or polling arrangements.

Local leaders of the mainstream contesting parties, including the PML-N, th PML-Q and the Jamaat-i-Islami, continued to visit the polling stations.

In October general election, PML-N’s Khwaja Saad Rafique had won the seat. He decided to vacate it and opted for the National Assembly seat.

There were 140,636 registered voters for whom 146 polling stations had been established, mainly in schools and colleges.

The election was contested by PML-Q’s former Ravi Town Nazim Qaiser Amin Butt, ARD’s (PML-N) Inamullah Khan Niazi, who belongs to Mianwali, and MMA’s Ziauddin Ansari.

Tight security arrangements had been made in and around the polling stations to avoid any untoward incident. Senior police officers also continued visiting various places to supervise the arrangements.

The constituency covered the Walled City and the areas around it like Gowalmandi and Nisbat Road, a PML-N stronghold.

Where supporters of Mr Butt seemed satisfied with the security arrangements, those of Mr Niazi alleged official intervention and intimidation by the police. The supporters of MMA’s Ziaullah Ansari accused Mr Saad Rafique of violating the ARD-MMA agreement under which Mr Niazi should have withdrawn in favour of Mr Ansari.

People started casting votes in the afternoon. And most of them, especially women, were transported to the polling stations by the workers of the candidates.

The police baton-charged PML-N workers in front of the Victoria Girls High School when they protested against allowing of under-age girls to enter the polling station. PML-N Women Wing’s Lahore President Tahira Naseem and Secretary-General Shahzadi Kabir said the police had baton-charged them when they and some other workers raised a voice against the violation. They alleged that they had been abused. They said the SHO concerned had also hit a woman in the face with a wireless set.

They said when their male colleagues intervened, the police, led by the SP city, baton-charged them. They alleged that some PML-Q activists had also attacked PML-N workers, two of them suffered head injuries.

The Bhati Gate SHO said the PML-N women had been interfering with the polling. In contrast, the PML-N Women Wing leaders said they had come to the place to supervise the polling.

In another incident, the police misbehaved with PML-N’s Asad Ashraf and Malik Ahad when they visited a polling station at Tehsil Bazaar. Reports of minor disturbances were also received from another polling station at Ali Park.

The voter turnout at almost all polling stations remained low throughout the day. Most of the presiding officers said voters started arriving in the afternoon and that too in small numbers.

A woman voter, Asia Sadaqat, tried to cast a bogus vote at the City Muslim High School, Said Mitha Bazaar, polling station but she was disallowed by the presiding officer.

This was one of the most sensitive polling stations in the city but the presiding officer and the police said no untoward incident had taken place.

Polling agents of the MMA candidate complained that many voters of the PM-Q candidate carried new manually prepared identity cards. They, however, could not establish whether the particulars of those carrying them were bogus.

Meanwhile, talking to Dawn, MNA and PML-N leader Khwaja Saad Rafique alleged massive intervention of the police and the administration in the electoral process. He said many activists, including Rang Mahal’s Haji Haneef, had been lifted by the police on Tuesday night to prevent them from using their influence in the area in favour of Mr Niazi. He accused the Lahore DIG and SP city of intimidating PML-N voters.

Khwaja Saad alleged that rough necks had been also allowed by the government to intimidate PML-N voters and supporters, and said his workers had caught many a PML-Q voters casting their voters with bogus identity cards but no legal action was taken against them.

“Despite all this I am hopeful of the victory of Mr Niazi,” he said.