ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday took notice of an alleged violation of the Code of Conduct by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar during by-election campaigning in NA-77 Gujranwala.
According to a press release issued by the ECP, the minister visited the constituency by helicopter and addressed a campaign event for Rashid Basheer Virk, who is contesting elections in National Assembly constituency NA-77 (Gujranwala-I).
This violates a provision in the Code of Conduct, which bars public office holders, including federal ministers, from participating in campaign activities.
The Commission has sought a report from the district monitoring officer and the district returning officer to inquire into the matter. It has also directed the minister to appear before the commission in person.
The ECP added that the result of the constituency could be withheld until a final decision is made on the matter.
By-elections in NA-77 and Punjab Assembly constituency PP-203 (Sahiwal-VI) are scheduled for November 8, both of which fell vacant after the deaths of their respective PML-N lawmakers.
NA-77 fell vacant following the death of five-time MNA Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk on September 11 after a prolonged illness. His son, Rashid, is among the candidates contesting the by-election.
Hanif Jutt had won the seat in a by-election held in November 2025 after the constituency’s original winner, PTI-backed independent Rai Murtaza Iqbal, was disqualified following his conviction by an Anti-Terrorism Court.
The upcoming by-election will therefore be the second electoral contest for PP-203 since the 2024 general elections. PML-N candidate Muhammad Asad Hanif Jutt is among the contenders for the vacant seat.
Mehmood Virk was elected to the National Assembly five times during his electoral career as a PML-N nominee. Considered a strong loyalist of PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he was first elected as an MNA in 1997 and then lost in 2002, but since 2008 he won four consecutive contests.
Rashid and 17 other candidates have filed nomination papers to contest the constituency.
In PP-203, however, the seat was initially won by independent candidate Rai Murtaza Iqbal, backed by the PTI, who secured 55,874 votes against PML-N’s Chaudhry Hanif Jutt, who polled 35,163 votes.
However, Iqbal, along with four other PTI-backed parliamentarians, was disqualified and denotified by the ECP following their conviction by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Faisalabad on July 31.
Subsequently, the ECP scheduled a by-election for Nov 23, 2025, which was won by Jutt with 46,820 votes. His closest rival, independent candidate Falik Sher, secured 10,975 votes.
Jutt died of cardiac arrest on Sept 17, 2026, necessitating another by-election in the constituency.
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