Pakistan elections: Sharif family wins in stronghold Lahore

Nawaz Sharif, 74, wins from NA-130 with over 172,000 votes (File)

Lahore:

Four members of the Sharif family of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party finally won seats in the National Assembly from their stronghold in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, in the just-concluded general election announced on Friday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the results of each constituency more than 20 hours after the polls.

The Sharif family appeared dejected at the unfavorable results on Thursday night but were delighted when the ECP declared victory in four constituencies in Lahore where jailed Prime Minister Im The candidate backed by Ram Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party leads by a wide margin. .

The 2024 polls have been controversial due to the ECP’s delay in voting and the detention of election officials by security agencies on Thursday midnight.

PML-N chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, 74, polled more than 172,000 votes, defeating PTI’s Dr Yasmin Rashid who polled more than 113,000 votes , winning from the NA-130.

Nawaz’s 50-year-old daughter Maryam Nawaz won the NA-119 elections by polling over 83,000 votes, defeating PTI Farooq Shahzad who polled over 68,000 votes.

Nawaz’s nephew Hamza Shehbaz, 49, polled over 105,000 votes in NA-118 elections, defeating PTI’s Aliya Hamza, The latter received more than 100,000 votes.

Nawaz’s younger brother, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, polled 63,000 votes in the NA-123 elections, defeating PTI’s Afzaal Phaat, who got over 48,000 ticket.

Interestingly, the ECP changed the returning officer for Nawaz constituency, raising questions about the transparency of vote counting.

However, PML-N chief Mr Sharif was badly defeated by independent candidate Shahzada Gastasap in NA-15 Mansehra constituency. Gastasap received 74,713 votes while Nawaz received only 63,054 votes.

Meanwhile, PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari lost Lahore National Assembly seat NA-127 to PML-N’s Atta Tarar . Bilawal could get only 15,000 votes.

Pakistan’s general election on Thursday was marred by accusations of fraud, sporadic violence and nationwide mobile phone shutdowns.

Both PTI and PML-N claimed victory in the elections. Sharif hopes to win a record fourth term in the election with the support of the powerful army. His party said Sharif would deliver a “victory speech” after the final results of the election were announced.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)