Ali Qasim Gilani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won the by-election held in NA-148, Multan on Sunday by securing 85, 850 votes as per the unofficial and inconclusive results, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.
His rival Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Barrister Taimoor Altaf Malik received 53, 449 votes and stood second.
The difference in votes between the two was 32, 401 votes.
A tough contest was expected between the two candidates for the seat vacated by PPP’s Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani after he became the Senate chairman.
Gilani had defeated the same PTI-backed candidate in the general elections held on February 8.
The voting that started at 8:00: am in the morning continued till 5: pm without any break.
Others vying for the National Assembly seat were Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Engineer Atif Imran and TLP’s Azhar Sindhela.
Of total 444231 voters in the constituency, 233624 are males and 210607 females, while the number of polling stations set up for the purpose stood at 275; 72 for men and an equal number for women. In all, 933 polling booths had been set up.
On the other hand, strict security arrangements had been put in place as the law-enforcement agencies’ personnel were on a high alert to ensure that the polling remained peaceful.