PTI leaders slam PML-N for NA-133 by-poll win with low turnout

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leaders mocked Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) for allegedly failing to galvanise the masses in Lahore’s NA-133 by-election, as the latter won it with less than 20 per cent turnout.

Read more: NA-133: PTI leader asks voters to stay at homes

According to unofficial results, PML-N leader Shaista Malik won the contest on Sunday after securing 46,811 votes against Pakistan People’s Party  (PPP) candidate Aslam Gill, who received 32,313 votes. A PTI candidate was knocked out on technical grounds. The voter turnout on the National Assembly seat remained 18.49 per cent, as out of total 440,845 voters, only 80,022 used their rights to the franchise.

Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said the PML-N had three failures: first, they could not mobilise more than 80 per cent of the voters; second, the PPP candidate, who received 5,500 votes in the 2018 general election, got six times more votes now; and third, the PML-N had to buy votes even in absence of the PTI.

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نون کی پاڑٹی قیادت کو آج بڑیانی کھانے کی بجائے اس الیکشن کا پوسٹ مارٹم کرنا چاہئیے کے بلامقابلہ الیکشن میں بغیر کسی تنظیم اور نامور امیدوار کے، ppp جیسی پاڑٹی مقابلہ دے گئی نون کو۔ اور وسائل لگانے کے باوجود نون کے امیدوار کو 90% ووٹر نے مسترد کر دیا یا ووٹ ڈالنے کی زحمت تک نہ کی۔

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 5, 2021

“It was an unopposed election which N-league lost even after winning,” he tweeted on Monday.

He said that the PML-N leadership should conduct an autopsy of the election instead of eating biryani today.

“In an unopposed election, without a well-known contestant or party, a party like the PPP gave the PML-N a tough time. And despite spending the resources, PML-N candidate was rejected by 90% of voters, or the voters did not even bother to cast their votes,” he added.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also took to Twitter and said that in NA-133, despite attempts to buy vote by bidding for Rs2,000 to 5,000 for each vote, the turnout was too low, which proved that the election held without the PTI candidate was meaningless for the people and the voters boycotted it.

این اے 133 میں ایک ایک ووٹ کے لیے دو سے پانچ ہزار تک کی بولیاں لگا کر خریدنے کی کوششوں کے باوجود ووٹنگ ٹرن آؤٹ نہ ہونے کے برابر رہا، جس سے ثابت ہوتا ہے کہ پاکستان تحریک انصاف کے امیدوار کے بغیر کروایا جانے والا الیکشن عوام کے لیے بے معنی تھا اور ووٹرز نے اس کا بائیکاٹ کیا

— Usman Buzdar (@UsmanAKBuzdar) December 5, 2021

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry said that the low turnout in the Lahore elections established that Nawaz-league and the PPP could not win the game even on an empty field.

“Despite all the propaganda, the PTI is the real player on the field without which the field is deserted,” he tweeted.

لاہور کے انتخابات میں ووٹنگ کی شرح انتہائ کم رہی اس سے ثابت ہوتا ہے کہ نون لیگ اور پیپلز پارٹی خالی میدان میں بھی کھیل نہیں جیت سکتے تمام تر پروپیگنڈے کے باوجود تحریک انصاف ہی میدان کی اصل کھلاڑی ہے جس کے بغیر میدان ویران ہے #PTI

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) December 5, 2021

According to the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill, even if Prime Minister Imran Khan was not in the field, the Pakistani people would not be ready to give a majority vote to those parties.

“Only 18 per cent of the total 440,400 votes were cast, the remaining 82 per cent of the votes were not cast,” he said. He said that the opposition parties were reduced to less than 10 to 15 per cent.

“Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Gill is an elegant politician but unfortunately he is part of the losing army,” he said while talking about the PPP candidate. He added that if Gill had fought independently, he would have got more votes.

چوہدری محمد اسلم گِل ایک وضع دار سیاستدان ہیں لیکن بد قسمتی سے ہارے ہوئے لشکر کا حصہ ہیں۔Ppp کو کسی غلط فہمی کا شکار نہیں ہونا چاہئے کہ یہ 32,333 ووٹ انہیں پڑے ہیں pti کے امیدوار کی غیر موجودگی میں اگر گِل صاحب PPPکے ٹکٹ کی بجائے آزاد لڑتے تو یقیناً اس سے کہیں زیادہ ووٹ لیتے۔1/2

— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) December 6, 2021

کل 440,400میں سے صرف 18% ووٹ پڑا۔ باقی 82% ووٹ نہ پڑنے سے واضح ہو گیا کہ خان میدان میں نہ بھی ہو تو پاکستانی عوام ان پارٹیوں کو اکثریتی ووٹ دینے کو تیار نہیں بلکہ اب یہ 10 سے15 فیصد سے کم کی پارٹیاں ہیں۔یہ بھی واضح ہو گیا کہ لاہور کے لوگ ن اورpp کوتقریباً برابر ہی سمجھتےہیں
2/2

— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) December 6, 2021

PML-N candidate Shaista Malik and PPP’s Aslam Gill along with 11 other candidates took part in the electoral process.

Read more: PML-N’s Shaista Pervaiz Malik wins NA-133 Lahore by-poll

The seat had fallen vacant after Shaista Malik’s husband PML-N MNA Pervaiz Malik died of heart disease on October 11. Pervaiz Malik had defeated PTI’s Ejaz Chaudhry with a margin of 12,000 in the 2018 general elections.