SAHIWAL: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has started arrangements for the upcoming by-elections scheduled for Oct 5 in two constituencies of Sahiwal district -- PP–203 (Sahiwal-VI) and NA–143 (Sahiwal-III).

These by-elections are going to be held following the disqualification of Rai Hasan Nawaz (MNA) and Rai Mujtaba (MPA), who lost their seats after being convicted by the anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) in Faisalabad for their alleged involvement in the May 9 riots. Subsequently, the ECP disqualified 13 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers under Article 63(1)(h) of the Constitution including Rai Hasan Nawaz and Murtaza Iqbal. The elections will be conducted under the supervision of the district administration.

Sahiwal DC Shahid Mahmood will serve as the district returning officer. For PP–203, Khudadad Tarad (Chief Officer, Municipal Committee, Kanir) and Asif Ali (Assistant Education Officer, Kasowal) have been appointed as returning officer and assistant returning officer, respectively.

For NA-143, Jawad Sharif (AEO, Okanwala Bangla) and Muhammad Shakeel (Assistant Director, DEA Faisalabad) will serve as assistant returning officers. Both constituencies are traditionally associated with the Rai family of Chichawatni. In the 2024 general elections, Rai Hasan Nawaz and his nephew Rai Murtaza Iqbal won NA-143 and PP-203 respectively as independent candidates, enjoying strong support from PTI voters.

Rai Hasan Nawaz secured 147,147 votes, defeating Muhammad Tufail Jutt of PML-N, who received 83,480 votes. Nouman Langrial of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party came third with 32,121 votes. In PP–203, Rai Murtaza Iqbal won with 55,874 votes, defeating Muhammad Hanif Jutt of PML-N — brother of Tufail Jutt — who garnered 35,163 votes. Zahid Iqbal, a local PML-N figure and former chairman of the Zila Council, secured third place with 16,416 votes.

Talking to Dawn, District Election Officer Muhammad Atif said PP-203 has a total of 253,099 registered voters, including 118,403 women. For this constituency, the ECP has established 185 polling stations: 53 for women, 55 for men, and 77 combined, mostly in public sector schools. NA-143 has 608,740 registered voters, of which 283,078 are women.

A total of 442 polling stations have been set up: 96 for women, 97 for men, and 259 combined.

According to the DEO, the ECP will establish 1,355 polling booths in NA-143 and 555 in PP-203. The election schedule includes the filing of nomination papers on Aug 28, scrutiny on Sept 3, appeals by Sept 8, and the final list of candidates to be displayed on 15th. Election symbols will be allotted on Sept 16.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025