PESHAWAR: Polling for the by-election is underway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for PK-8 seat on Thursday after it was vacated following Pakistan Muslim League-N’s (PML-N) Arbab Akbar Hayat’s demise.
According to sources, polling began at 8am and will conclude at 5pm. Police and army personnel are guarding total 98 polling stations formed in the constituency.
Security concerns loom over the by-election as 40 polling centres were declared extremely sensitive, 47, sensitive and 11 were declared normal. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Shehzad Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI) Asif Iqbal, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Malik Tehmash and Awami National Party’s (ANP) Ejaz Samyab among 15 contestants.
PTI, JUI and PPP are likely to line by one another in the results with close margins. Number of registered voters in PK-8 is over 1.36 lac however, turnout is dismal in the early hours. Media are permitted limited coverage of the by-election.
It should be noted here that PTI will manage a ‘clean sweep’ in Peshawar if Shehzad Khan wins the seat. JI, QWP and PML-Q had withdrawn in favour of PTI earlier.
