MULTAN, April 12: Ruling party's Tahir Basheer Cheema, a PPP deserter, won the NA-190 (Chishtian) bypoll on Monday amid sporadic incidents of violence and allegations of vote fraud by the ARD.

The seat was vacated after the demise of former federal minister and PML-Q stalwart Abdul Sattar Laleka. Four candidates were in run but the contest was between Tahir Cheema and PPP's Muhammad Ali Laleka.

The result of the all 228 polling stations, compiled by the returning officer by 12 midnight, showed Cheema had a lead of over 33,000 votes -- 75,166 votes against his closest rival's 41,510. MMA' Mian Ihsan Bari and independent candidate Lateef Ansar Lajpal could hardly make any difference.

There were reports of some incidents of violence followed by aerial firing by the supporters of the two main contestants in villages of Fateh and Murad. The local police detained some activists of Muslim Students Federation (Nawaz Sharif group) from 98-Fateh village in connection with an aerial firing incident. The MSF (N) was supporting Ali Laleka under a decision of the ARD.

Talking to Dawn, Ali Laleka and his chief campaigner PPP MNA Mumtaz Matiana alleged that rigging and 'power tactics' had ensured the success of the 'official candidate.'

They said Chishtian police chief and incharge of all the police stations were transferred before the polls besides scores of revenue department officials. "At a number of polling stations, police and goons of the ruling party candidate denied access to our polling agents."

However, the Cheema camp refuted the allegations saying "all losers harp on the same tune". Some independent observers said that though the turnout was low due to wheat harvesting, the crowd at the PPP camps throughout the polling was astounding as compared to the camps of the ruling party candidate.

It may be added here that in the recently-held bypolls for the local bodies, PPP-backed candidates had won most of the seats in Chishtian tehsil. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said that the crushing defeat of the rival candidate was in fact rejections of opposition's politics. In a statement from Lahore, he said government would extend additional resources to Bahawalnagar and other parts of southern Punjab.