PPP wins by-election in NA-171 Rahim Yar Khan 

Rahim Yar Khan: According to the unofficial results of the National Assembly Constituency NA-171 by-election, Makhdoom Tahir Rashiduddin of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has defeated Hassan Mustafa of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

According to a media report, the seat fell vacant after the death of PTI-backed Member of National Assembly (MNA) Raees Mumtaz Mustafa a few weeks ago.

According to the unofficial results, Makhdoom Tahir Rashiduddin of PPP was on the first place by getting 160,429 votes, while Hassan Mustafa of PTI could get 58,251 votes.

Later, the victory was celebrated at the residence of Makhdoom Tahir. However, in a video message, Hassan Mustafa alleged that the police sealed 71 polling booths and did not provide Form 45.

The PTI candidate also accused the police of picking up 14 of his supporters from Chichran Sharif. In his claim, Hassan said that his women supporters were attacked in various areas. Police raided several polling booths and suspended the process. There was a total of 301 polling stations in the constituency.

This constituency consists mostly of rural areas of Tehsil Rahim Yar Khan and Khanpur, including Kot Samaba, Mianwali Qureshiyan, Ruknanpur, Sardargarh, Abadpur, Ehsanpur, Zahir Pir, Fatehpur Kamal, Chachran Sharif, Nawan Kot, Jaja Abbasian and Kotla Pathan are included.

The total number of registered voters in this constituency is 52,06,973, of which 2,88,113 are male and 2,38,860 are female.

Raees Mustafa contested the seat with the support of PTI in the February 8 elections and secured 138,834 votes, defeating former Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht, who polled 56,000 votes. Makhdoom Tahir Rashiduddin, who is the son of former Federal Finance Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin, got 40,019 votes at that time.

Raees Mustafa's victory dealt a major blow to the Makhdooms of the Mianwali Qureshis as they undermined the feudal culture and hereditary polity.

PTI had issued a ticket to Raees Mumtaz's son Hassan Mustafa for the by-election.

After the defeat in the general elections, all the Makhdooms of Mianwali Qureshis worked together against Hassan Mustafa.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other landowners including former Punjab Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood also supported the PPP candidate.