SAHIWAL: Seven candidates, including four independents, are in the run for the by-election in PP-203 (Sahiwal-VI) scheduled for Nov 8 in tehsil Chichawatni.

The PTI has boycotted the election while the PPP, JUI-F, TLP and JI have not fielded candidates. The candidates contesting for the seat are Shoaib Raheem, Muhammad Asif, Umair Butt and Waheed Hussain (independents), while Muhammad Asad Hanif, nephew of the late MPA Hanif Jutt, is contesting on a PML-N ticket. Muhammad Awais Mahmood is in the poll on the ticket of a new political platform, Tehreek-e-Ehsas Pakistan (TEP). Political observers believe the main contest is likely to be between Hanif and Mahmood.

According to Returning Officer Khudadad Tarar, the constituency has 258,122 registered voters, including 122,393 women voters. A total of 185 polling stations will be established along with 560 polling booths. Traditionally, the constituency has witnessed electoral rivalry between the influential Rai and Jutt clans of Chichawatni. The Rais have largely aligned themselves with PTI, while the Jutts have traditionally supported PML-N. This will be the second by-election on the seat in recent years. The first was held after former PTI MPA Rai Murtaza was disqualified following his conviction by an antiterrorism court. The current by-election has been necessitated by the death of Hanif Jutt, who had won the previous by-election on a PML-N ticket in November 2025.

A notable development in this election is the entry of the TEP, a grassroots youth-oriented sociopolitical organisation contesting an election for the first time since its registration with the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2013.

Founded by Rao Muhammad Zubair in 2007 as a social and youth movement, the TEP emerged after Zubair parted ways with the Rai political camp and established an independent platform focused on community welfare and civic engagement.

Over the years, the organisation has developed a significant presence in Chichawatni city and surrounding villages. Unlike conventional political parties, the movement has concentrated on public-service initiatives, including assistance to underprivileged students through the provision of textbooks, street-light maintenance campaigns, urban and rural plantation drives, and vocational and market-oriented skills training for local youth.

The organization has also undertaken localized development projects and community outreach programmes across the tehsil.

Speaking to Dawn, Mahmood said the movement believed not in revolution but in evolution, emphasizing gradual social change through community participation and improvement in civic service delivery. The movement has 4,000 registered youth members in over 70 villages.

Political analysts believe that while the PML-N remains the favourite to retain the seat, the TEP could emerge as a factor by attracting first-time voters and urban middle-class youth. Many observers believe the party may also draw support from PTI voters following the latter’s decision to boycott the election.

Many local observers fear the turnout of voters would be less than 25pc as few people are interested in the by-election. For many voters, this by-election is not only a contest between established political families but also a test of whether a grassroots youth movement can translate years of social work into electoral support.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2026