Police have finalised a security plan for by-elections in NA-177 and PP-254 constituencies in Muzaffargarh, District Police Officer Rana Abdul Jabbar said on Monday.
He said that 2,000 security personnel had been assigned security duties in the two constituencies.
Special measures had been taken for security at polling stations.
He said a ban had been imposed under Section 144 on carrying weapons. He said station house officers in both constituencies had been directed to arrest violators of the ban on the spot.
The by-election in PP-254 was announced following the death of a candidate, Mushtaq Ahmad Khera. The leading candidates in PP-254 are: Hammad Nawaz Tipu of the PML-N, Malik Irshad Ahmad Siyal of the PPP and Abdul Hayee Dasti of the PTI.
By-election in NA-177 was announced after Jamshed Ahmad Khan Dasti, who ran from NA-177 and NA-178, won both the seats.
Candidates fielded in NA-177 are: Dasti’s brother Javed Ahmad Dasti (independent), Iqbal Pitafi (independent), Shahid Mustafa Qureshi of PTI, Malik Noor Rabbani Khar of the PPP and Saud Ahmad Gurmani (Independent).
The Sargodha district administration, too, has imposed Section-144 for by-polls in NA-68 (Sillanwali, Sahiwal and Shahpur tehsil) from August 20 to 27, imposing a ban on the exhibition of arms, provocative slogans and taking out rallies in the constituency.
Polling will be held on August 22.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 20th, 2013.