Asad Ashraf wins Senate seat

LAHORE, Mar 01 (APP):Dr Asad Ashraf, an independent
candidate who enjoyed support of the Pakistan Muslim League-
Nawaz, was elected as senator in the by-poll for a Senate seat
fell vacant after disqualification of Nehal Hashmi
here Thursday.
According to unofficial results, Dr Ashraf bagged 298
votes while his rival candidate Dr Zarqa Taimur obtained 38
votes.
A total of 350 votes were cast but 14 votes were rejected
on technical grounds. The polling started at 9:00am which
continued till 4:00pm without any break.
Provincial Election Commissioner Sharifullah presided
over the election process. The Election Commission of Pakistan had
declared the Punjab Assembly as a polling station.
Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif also cast
his vote in Senate’s by-poll whereas Punjab Law Minister Rana
Sanaullah was the first to cast his vote.
According to Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan,
the winning candidate Asad Ashraf got 298 votes while they
were expecting 313 votes. “Some of our members could not reach
due to pre-engagements,” he added.
Returning Officer Sharifullah cancelled ballot paper of
lawmaker Waheed Gull for violating the Election Commission’s
code of conduct. Gull had swung his stamped ballot paper
before inserting it into ballot box during the polling.
Pakistan Peoples Party and Jama’at-e-Islami did not take
part in the by-election while Q-League withdrew its first
decision of not taking part in the election process, and its
members actively supported and cast vote to PTI candidate Dr
Zarqa Taimur.
As the Election Commissioner unfolded unofficial results
and declared Asad Ashraf as successful candidate, the
PML-N lawmakers distributed sweets to rejoice the victory
and also extended greetings to each other.