Analysts Divided Over PTI's Performance In Punjab By-polls

Analysts Divided Over PTI's Performance In Punjab By-polls
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has dominated the Punjab by-elections by winning 15 out of the 20 vacant seats of the provincial assembly.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), however, only managed to win four seats.

The 20 seats had become vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had de-seated 25 MPAs for voting against their party’s candidate during the recent election for Punjab chief minister.

Previously, all these seats were either directly belonged to the PTI or won by the independents who later joined it during the government formation process in 2018.

Some analysts are of the view that in contrast to the 2018 elections, the PTI lost five seats in the July 17 by-election while others say the party managed to bag extra eight seats, for which they had to rely on independent candidates in 2018.

Let's look at a comparison of both elections in these constituencies:

PP-83 (District Khushab) in 2018:

Independent: 68959

PML-N: 47684

PTI: 8517

PP-83 (District Khushab) in 2022•

PTI: 50749

PML-N: 43587

PP-90 (District Bhakkar) in 2018:

Independent: 59350

PML-N: 44915

PTI: 12994

PP-90 (District Bhakkar) in 2022:

PTI: 77865

PML-N: 66513

PP-97 (Faisalabad) in 2018:

Independent: 42273

PTI: 37932

PML-N: 35298

PP-97 (Faisalabad) in 2022:

PTI: 67022

PML-N: 54266