Over 228,000 voters of PP-269 Muzaffargarh-II are finally set to elect their representative for the Punjab Assembly after a protracted legal battle over who had won the constituency in 2024.
The seat fell vacant in March 2024, just a month after the general election, when the initially declared winner, Mian Alamdaar Abbas Qureshi, resigned to avoid a recount of votes as ordered by the Election Commission upon the runner-up’s request. This triggered a protracted legal battle over whether to hold a recount or a fresh poll. The impasse was broken by the latest order of the Islamabad High Court in September 2025 that directed the ECP to hold by-election in the constituency.
What areas does the constituency comprise?
PP-269 is one of the eight Provincial Assembly constituencies in Muzaffargarh district. It encompasses the rural parts of Muzaffargarh Tehsil, including the areas of Basira and Kareemdad Qureshi.
Who are the key contenders?
According to the Final List of Contesting Candidates (Form-33), a total of 17 candidates are contesting the seat. The main contest, however, is likely to be among three major front-runners.
Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) has renominated the resigning member, Mian Alamdaar Abbas Qureshi. The remaining field comprises Zafar Iqbal Gurmani of the Pakistan Islamic Republican Party (PIRP) and 15 independent candidates, among whom Abdul Haye Dasti and Iqbal Pitafi are the most prominent.
Mian Alamdaar Abbas Qureshi has been elected thrice as MPA. He was first elected as an independent in 2013 and joined PML-N, re-elected as an independent in 2018 and joined PTI, and was declared the winner on a PPPP ticket in 2024 before his resignation.
The 2024 runner-up, Iqbal Khan Pitafi, is contesting as an independent candidate on the election symbol of Hukkah in the by-election. Pitafi has consistently been a strong challenger in the constituency. He was the runner-up to Alamdaar Qureshi in both the 2018 and 2024 elections, securing 28 percent and 25 percent of the polled votes, respectively. His formal request for a recount of the 2024 results led to the legal battle that delayed this by-election. Interestingly, he finished last in his first contest in 2013, securing only 40 votes.
Another prominent independent is Abdul Haye Dasti. He was elected as an independent MPA from this area in 2018 with 19 percent of the polled votes, later joining PTI. He comes from an influential political family. His father served as an MPA for seven terms between 1972 and 2007. Dasti himself has been a persistent contender since 2008, finishing as the runner-up on the PTI ticket in 2013 with 23 percent of the vote. He contested for a National Assembly seat (NA-175) in 2024, where he finished a distant fourth.
Rashid Nadeem, an independent candidate who secured a significant 18 percent of the vote as a PTI-backed candidate in the 2024 election, is also in the race and could influence the outcome.
What has changed since 2024?
In PP-269, the number of registered voters has risen from 216,865 to 228,101, an increase of 11,236 voters (approximately 5 percent). For the by-election, the ECP will establish 156 polling stations across the constituency, comprising 16 for men, 16 for women, and 124 combined stations.
