MULTAN: Army personnel will be deputed at all the 303 polling stations in NA-154, Lodhran, where by-election is due on Wednesday (today).

The polling will start at 8am and continue till 5pm. Twenty candidates, including front-runners PML-N’s Siddique Khan Baloch and PTI’s Jahangir Tareen, are in the run.

According to District Police Officer Asad Sarfraz Khan, 3,000 policemen and 1,100 razakar will also perform duties at polling stations.

He said 47 polling stations were most sensitive. There are 419,182 registered voters – 228,870 male and 190,312 female.

The DPO said voters would not be allowed to carry mobile phones and cameras to the polling stations.

The seat fell vacant after Baloch was disqualified by an election tribunal on Aug 26 on a petition filed by Tareen, who had accused the former of possessing a fake degree and committing irregularities during the 2013 general elections.

The Supreme Court, however, set aside one of the tribunal’s decisions and ordered re-election, allowing Baloch to contest again.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2015