Voters in two Punjab constituencies go to the polls on Sunday, 8 November, in by-elections being held under the watch of the army and the Punjab Rangers.

Polling will take place in NA-77 Gujranwala-I, a National Assembly seat, and PP-203 Sahiwal-VI, a Punjab Assembly seat covering Chichawatni. The federal government has approved the deployment of the army and the Rangers for the two contests, with troops on duty from 7 to 9 November, covering the day before polling, polling day and the day after.

The army will act as the third tier of security and the Rangers as the second-tier standby force, supporting the Election Commission of Pakistan in keeping polling peaceful. Troops are to serve as standby and quick-reaction forces around the polling stations.

In Gujranwala, the contest is between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League. The PML-N has fielded Rashid Bashir Virk, the son of the late Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, a four-time member of the National Assembly and former federal minister whose death left the seat vacant. The Markazi Muslim League candidate is Qazi Muhammad Ibrahim Gujjar. The seat has been a PML-N stronghold for decades; in the 2024 general election Mahmood Bashir Virk won it with 109,704 votes.

In Chichawatni, seven candidates are contesting PP-203 across 185 polling stations, with 258,122 registered voters. Preparations, including the distribution of polling material and the deployment of polling staff, were under way on Saturday.

The run-up to polling has already drawn the Election Commission's attention. The commission has taken notice of an alleged code of conduct violation by Information Minister Ataullah Tarar during the NA-77 campaign, seeking reports from the district monitoring and returning officers, and the minister has been directed to appear before the commission in person.

[Source: khabr.pk](https://khabr.pk/en/news/army-rangers-deployed-gujranwala-sahiwal-by-elections) | [Source: pakistanpoint.com](https://www.pakistanpoint.com/en/story/2285807/na-77-gujranwala-by-election-ecp-notices-alleged-code.html)