The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said it has resolved 76 poll-related complaints, which were received throughout the day, reported The Dawn.

According to the ECP spokesperson, most of the complaints were of a ‘normal nature’ involving confrontations between political workers in different areas which were resolved on the spot.

Former PM Imran Khan’s PTI has urged supporters not to leave polling stations without collecting the Form 45.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Form 45 is known as the statement of the count. It is supposed to show the number of valid votes for each contesting candidate and ballot papers excluded from the count.

Marred by rigging allegations and cellular and internet outages, the polling in Pakistan concluded at 5 pm, reported The Dawn. The voting process began at 8 am. 

The Election Commission of Pakistan had earlier said that exceptions would only be made for people already inside the polling station. “Individuals already present within the premises/precincts of the polling station are still allowed to cast their votes even after the stipulated time has passed,” the election commission said in a statement shortly before the official close.

With the country voted in general elections, at least nine people lost their lives, including two children, in militant attacks on Thursday. The administration had earlier suspended mobile phone services and closed land borders to maintain law and order.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reiterated that polling across the nation will end at 5 pm.

In a statement on X, the electoral watchdog said exceptions would be made for people already inside the polling station.

Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai on 8 February said, as reported by The Dawn, the electoral process in the province is running smoothly until now and hoped that the same would continue until evening.

“The condition is peaceful in the province and people are coming out to cast their vote,” he said, adding that “terrorists have lost.”

“Like other provinces, Balochistan will deliver results after 5pm,” the minister said.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on 8 February said that “the majority of the voters received polling information by messaging 8300″, as he stated that the electoral watchdog was receiving on average 1.5 to 2 million messages each day.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said, as quoted by The Dawn, that the messaging service had been functional since January 29.

He further said that voter registration details were present with the provincial election commissioners as well.

PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan has said that the country is witnessing the worst-ever political engineering in the history of Pakistan to keep Khan’s party from winning the polls. “It has been by all means is the worst ever political engineering through all phases of the elections to keep the PTI out of the election process and achieve the desired result,” Hasan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“A reign of terror has been unleashed on the party for the past 22 months under the ‘London Plan’ to dismantle PTI and remove its founding chairman Imran Khan from the political scene,” Hasan said.

Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Maqbool Baqar is casting Vote at Government Boys Secondary School, Block 6, PECH Society, Karachi, Sindh.

Replying on the suspension of mobile services in Pakistan Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja had said its Election Management System is not dependent on the Internet and its work will not be affected due to it.

Raja told media persons, as quoted by Indian Express, “Our system is not dependent on it (mobile services). Our system is not independent of the Internet, we have clarified it earlier too. There will be no impact on our preparation because of this.” 

Jamaat-i-Islami’s Karachi wing on 8 February requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to immediately restore internet services, reported the Dawn.

“The chances of rigging have greatly increased with the shutdown of mobile and internet services,” it said in a post on X. “The election commission should take notice and restore the service.”

Grenade attacks were reported in different parts of Balochistan on 8 February, but polling in Pakistani region remained unaffected since there were no casualties, news agency Reuters quoted Saeed Ahmed Umrani, commissioner of the Makran division as saying. 

Four police officials were killed in a bomb blast and shooting in Northwest Pakistan, the news agency Reuters said quoting police.

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party on Thursday claimed that polling in several areas of Pakistan’s Punjab province of Pakistan began on Thursday without the presence of its agents, some of whom were picked by the police to make rigging easier in the elections.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates are contesting the polls independently after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the election commission to deprive his party of its iconic election symbol cricket ‘bat’. The PTI has alleged that the police removed its polling camps.

“At several polling stations in the constituencies, including those of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shehbaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz the polling even began without the presence of the polling agents of the PTI in Lahore,” party leader from Lahore Wasim Ahmad told this correspondent. (PTI)

Pakistanis braved cold winter weather and the threat of violence to vote for a new parliament Thursday, a day after twin bombings claimed at least 30 lives in the worst election-related violence ahead of the contested balloting.

Tens of thousands of security forces were deployed at polling stations and authorities suspended mobile phone services across the country to prevent disruptions and flash protests. Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said the decision was made to maintain law and order. It did not say when the suspension would be lifted. (AP)

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and other political leaders who are currently incarcerated have cast their votes through a postal ballot from Adiala Jail, Pakistan-based Dawn reported, citing sources.

People in Pakistan began voting on Thursday, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and other leaders of the party, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, currently in prison.

Other leaders who have managed to vote through mail include Pakistan’s former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid, and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry. (ANI)

People in Pakistan on Thursday voted in the general elections in which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is hoping to secure a record fourth term with the backing of the powerful military amid a crackdown on his rival Imran Khan’s party and rising in violence.

Amidst tight security, the polling started at 8.00 AM and will continue without any break till 5.00 PM.

Soon after the voting started, mobile services in Pakistan were suspended due to the “deteriorating security situation”, a day after twin terror attacks killed at least 30 people. (PTI)

Polling operations at various stations throughout the country have encountered significant delays owing to a range of technical and logistical impediments, hindering the commencement of the electoral process, Pakistan-based Samaa reported.

In Hyderabad’s NA-220 constituency, the distribution of essential polling materials remains pending, thereby preventing the deployment of polling staff crucial for NA-220’s electoral proceedings.

According to Samaa, district Returning Officer Tariq Qureshi underscored that the transmission of materials hinges upon the credentials possessed solely by the Returning Officer (RO), comprising an ID and password requisite for system access.

Meanwhile, at PS-2 in Thal, polling initiation faces setbacks due to incomplete preparations at the polling station. Similarly, in Ghotki, the commencement of polling at NA-198 Dharki has been stalled due to the absence of designated agents, as reported by Samaa.

Furthermore, in Karachi’s Punjab Colony, polling activity remains suspended at NA-232 polling stations due to the unavailability of polling boxes alongside the conspicuous absence of polling agents. (ANI)

Voting is underway at a polling booth in Peshawar for the Pakistan parliamentary general elections. 

Pakistan parliamentary elections are not just the most predictable, but also the most rigged ones because there is a widespread expectation that it will be possible be a select Nawaz Sharif and his PMLN party, said Ajay Bisara, former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan.

Speaking to ANI, Bisaria said, “From all accounts, these elections on 8th February are not just the most predictable, but also the most rigged, because it’s clear for everyone in Pakistan if you see the commentary that is coming from within the country.

“The election results are clear, the army in various ways is doing pre-election engineering, it will probably do some election engineering and post-election engineering to get a government that it wants in place,” he said.

“It is said that it will possibly be a selection of Nawaz Sharif and his PMLN party, I think that is a widespread expectation, and that’s fairly accurate…,” the official added.

Pakistan general elections are set to be held on February 8 after months of delay. The country has been at the center of political, economic, and even judicial drama over the past year. However, many voters still wonder if the balloting can bring any real change in the country.

Pakistan temporarily suspended mobile phone services across the country on Thursday and closed some land borders to maintain law and order as voting began in a national election that has been preceded by a surge in militant violence.

In the most recent such incidents, 26 people were killed in two explosions near electoral candidates’ offices in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Wednesday. Islamic State later claimed responsibility. (Reuters)

As mobile services remain suspended in Pakistan amid the ongoing polls, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari demanded the immediate restoration of mobile phone services across the country.

PPP leader Bilawal took to his social media X, stating that he has asked his party to approach both, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the courts for the same.

“Mobile phone services must be restored immediately across the country have asked my party to approach both ECP and the courts for this purpose,” he posted on X.

Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has said the Pakistan general elections are the most predictable, and the most rigged.

“These elections on February 8 are not just the most predictable, but also the most rigged, because it’s clear for everyone in Pakistan, if you see the commentary that is coming from within Pakistan, that the election results are clear, that the army in various ways is doing pre-election engineering, it will probably do some election engineering and post-election engineering to get a government that it wants in place,” Bisaria said. (ANI)

1. Nawaz Sharif

Nawaz Sharif is a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party. He is the only Pakistani politician who became the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times. However, each term has ended with his ousting from power, in 1993, 1999 and 2017. He has been dubbed as the “Lion of Punjab”.

Stand on India

Nawaz Sharif promised a ‘Message of Peace’ to India in his party manifesto. But this promise was on the condition that New Delhi would revert its August 2019 decision (abrogation of Article 370) on Kashmir, Pakistani media Dawn reported while quoting the manifesto.

2. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

Bilawal Bhutto is the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He is the son of Benazir Bhutto, the world’s first Muslim woman leader, who was twice elected prime minister and assassinated in 2007. His father Asif Ali Zardari served as the 11th president of Pakistan from September 2008 to September 2013. He has been dubbed as a millennial candidate.

Stand on India

In May 2023, when he was the foreign minister of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto had criticized India for hosting a tourism conference in the disputed region of Kashmir under its control. He even accused India of “abusing” its G20 presidency. He had also objected to the abrogation of Article 370.

In a video, he could be heard saying that his party PPP always advocated the normalisation of ties with India, However, amid the India-Canada diplomatic row, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said it was time for the international community to accept that India had become a “rogue Hindutva terrorist state”, Dawn reported.

2. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the main opposition leader, cannot fight this year’s general election. He has been barred from contesting the polls following a series of jail sentences. His party PTI had won the 2018 general election and he became the prime minister until his ouster in a no-confidence vote in 2022.

Despite being in jail, Imran Khan’s influence still looms large. According to Reuters, the PTI will hope to exploit supporters’ sympathy and anger and repeat its 2018 victory. But amidst a continuing standoff with the military, PTI’s prospects hinge on a detente with the generals, which looks unlikely.

Imran Khan’s stance on India

In June 2023, Imran Khan had said it was supposed to be a quid-pro-quo relationship with India. “India was supposed to give some sort of a road map for Kashmir and I was then going to hos Narendra Modi in Pakistan…but that never materialised,” he said in an interview with the Atlantic Council, a prominent US-based think tank.

In 2019, Imran Khan had asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to “give peace a chance” and assured him that he “stands by” his words and will “immediately act” if New Delhi provides Islamabad with “actionable intelligence” on the Pulwama attack. Later in 2021, Khan had welcomed the ceasefire agreement with India and said Islamabad remains ready to move forward to resolve “all outstanding issues” through dialogue.

Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian has said elections in Pakistan will be neither free nor fair and that the real power will be held by the country’s army chief.

The Pakistan “election will be neither fair nor free. Whoever becomes prime minister, real power is held by the army chief who is not standing for election,” the former Indian diplomat said.

He said Pakistan is in deep disarray politically, economically and on a wider social basis because of terrorism.

“In the meantime, Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan and his wife are in jail. Imran Khan had every right to tell the people of Pakistan that America was putting pressure to make sure that confidence motion on him succeeds. But then he is put in jail. So, the charges against him do not stand scrutiny,” Fabian said. (ANI)

Pakistanis turning out early for Thursday’s election said they believe their votes count, despite allegations of rigging in the nation’s most fractious poll in recent history.

“I believe in democracy and I think my vote matters,” said 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq, among the first to vote in the capital Islamabad.

“I cast my vote as it’s my duty,” she told AFP inside a polling station. “I wish for a deserving party to come to power.”

Polls opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) for 128 million eligible voters, with the first participants trickling into the Noorpur Shahan girl’s school and inking their fingers to stamp papers in gender-segregated booths. (AFP)

 In a post on X, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said, “Pakistanis, the illegitimate, fascist regime has blocked cell phone services across Pakistan on polling day. You are all requested to counter this cowardly act by removing passwords from your personal WiFi accounts, so anyone in the vicinity can have access to the internet on this extremely important day. We are all in this together & we will win together!” 

A day ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, two blasts took place on Wednesday near electoral candidates’ offices in Balochistan, Reuters reported quoting local officials. As per the report, the blasts killed 22 people, raising concerns over security in the lead-up to Thursday’s polls.

Pakistan goes to the polls amid rising militant attacks in recent months and the jailing of Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, who has been dominating the headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the nuclear-armed country. The explosions occurred despite tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel stationed around Pakistan to maintain order in the wake of a recent spike in militant strikes, particularly in Balochistan.

Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has said the Pakistan general elections are the most predictable, the most rigged.

“These elections on February 8 are not just the most predictable, but also the most rigged, because it’s clear for everyone in Pakistan, if you see the commentary that is coming from within Pakistan, that the election results are clear, that the army in various ways is doing pre-election engineering, it will probably do some election engineering and post-election engineering to get a government that it wants in place,” Bisaria said.

“It is said that it will possibly be a selection of Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) party. So I think that is a widespread expectation, and that’s fairly accurate,” Bisaria added. (ANI)

One policeman was allegedly killed in firing on a polling station in Pakistan’s Tank region, Reuters reported.

More than 17,000 candidates will be contesting today’s elections in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

Voters will elect 266 candidates to the Pakistan National Assembly, who will later, by a majority vote, elect the next prime minister.

Simultaneously, voters will also elect representatives to their respective provincial assemblies, who will then elect the provincial chief executives under a similar process.

Meanwhile, elections have been postponed in one national and three provincial assembly constituencies due to the deaths of contesting candidates. This includes NA-8 (Bajaur), PK-22 (Bajaur), PK-91 (Kohat) and PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan). Voters elsewhere will cast two votes each — one for each of the two assemblies. (ANI)

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said that internet services will remain functional on Thursday as the people are voting to elect a new government.

The PTA in a statement on Wednesday said it had not yet received any instructions from the government to shut internet and that services would work without any interruption on Thursday.

Many non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International, had called for uninterrupted internet access across the country during the polling process.

“We, the undersigned organisations and members of the #KeepItOn coalition – a global network of over 300 organisations from 105 countries working to end internet shutdowns – appeal to you, Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, to publicly commit to ensuring that the people of Pakistan have unfettered access to the internet, social media platforms, and all other communication channels throughout the upcoming general election on February 8, 2024,” the London-based NGO said. (PTI)

1. Nawaz Sharif

Nawaz Sharif is a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party. He is the only Pakistani politician who became the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times. However, each term has ended with his ousting from power, in 1993, 1999 and 2017. He has been dubbed as the “Lion of Punjab”.

Stand on India: Nawaz Sharif promised a ‘Message of Peace’ to India in his party manifesto. But this promise was on the condition that New Delhi would revert its August 2019 decision (abrogation of Article 370) on Kashmir, Pakistani media Dawn reported while quoting the manifesto.

2. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

Bilawal Bhutto is the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). He is the son of Benazir Bhutto, the world’s first Muslim woman leader, who was twice elected prime minister and assassinated in 2007. His father Asif Ali Zardari served as the 11th president of Pakistan from September 2008 to September 2013. He has been dubbed as a millennial candidate.

Stand on India: In May 2023, when he was the foreign minister of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto had criticized India for hosting a tourism conference in the disputed region of Kashmir under its control. He even accused India of “abusing” its G20 presidency. He had also objected to the abrogation of Article 370.

3. Imran Khan

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the main opposition leader, cannot fight this year’s general election. He has been barred from contesting the polls following a series of jail sentences. His party PTI had won the 2018 general election and he became the prime minister until his ouster in a no-confidence vote in 2022.

Imran Khan’s stance on India: In June 2023, Imran Khan had said it was supposed to be a quid-pro-quo relationship with India. “India was supposed to give some sort of a road map for Kashmir and I was then going to hos Narendra Modi in Pakistan…but that never materialised,” he said this in an interview with the Atlantic Council, a prominent US-based think tank.

In 2019, Imran Khan had asked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to “give peace a chance” and assured him that he “stands by” his words and will “immediately act” if New Delhi provides Islamabad with “actionable intelligence” on the Pulwama attack. Later in 2021, Khan had welcomed the ceasefire agreement with India and said Islamabad remains ready to move forward to resolve “all outstanding issues” through dialogue.

Pakistan suspended mobile phone services nationwide Thursday as voting began in the general election, saying the measure was an attempt to maintain order ahead of expected turmoil around the controversial polls, Bloomberg reported.

“Given recent surge in terrorist incidents, it has been decided to shut mobile services nationwide temporarily to maintain the law and order situation and tackle threats,” the nation’s interior ministry said in a statement.

The statement didn’t say how long the services would be stopped. Some mobile phones were still working as of 8:17 a.m. local time. (Bloomberg)

More than 17,000 candidates will be contesting today’s elections in Pakistan, Dawn reported.

Voters will elect 266 candidates to the Pakistan National Assembly, who will later, by a majority vote, elect the next prime minister.

Simultaneously, voters will also elect representatives to their respective provincial assemblies, who will then elect the provincial chief executives under a similar process.

Meanwhile, elections have been postponed in one national and three provincial assembly constituencies due to the deaths of contesting candidates. This includes NA-8 (Bajaur), PK-22 (Bajaur), PK-91 (Kohat) and PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan). Voters elsewhere will cast two votes each — one for each of the two assemblies. (ANI)

Voters arrive at a polling booth in Islamabad, as parliamentary general elections get underway in Pakistan.

On the unrest in Pakistan ahead of the country’s upcoming Parliamentary Elections, Defence Expert Brigadier (Retd.) Anil Gupta says, “… The Pakistan Army wants to bring in Nawaz Sharif. They have ensured that there is no opposition… They have ensured that they want Nawaz Sharif to be the Prime Minister with their blessings. The Pakistan Army is once again trying to mainstream the terrorist organisations in the country, who under pseudo names are contesting elections.”

He further added, “Kashmir is not an issue, it was, it is, and it will always remain an integral part of India. The entire state of J&K had acceded to India in 1947 but it was the Pakistan government which launched attacks and illegally occupied parts of the state which it still does… This is going to be a bloody election and there will be law and order problems with cases of ballot paper looting, candidates being killed or blasts outside polling booths… Imran Khan’s arrest is undemocratic. He has been made a victim of circumstances. There’s a vilified campaign against him because he did not pay heed to the Pakistan Army.” (ANI)

On the unrest in Pakistan ahead of the country’s upcoming Parliamentary Elections, Defence Expert Qamar Agha told ANI, “The result of these elections is pre-decided, right from who will be the Prime Minister to how many seats will each party win. If you see there are 2 main candidates, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto.”

He further added, “On one hand, Nawaz Sharif is trying to emerge as the single largest party, but if he forms a government in coalition, then he might promote his daughter Maryam as Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif’s relations with the Pakistan Army have improved, his family has been rehabilitated, and he has been forgiven for his crimes. Violence is regularly going on in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Even if the army manages these elections, running the government will be a very difficult task seeing the serious economic crisis and political instability in the country.” (ANI)

Millions of Pakistanis began voting Thursday in an election marred by allegations of poll rigging, with the country’s most popular politician in jail and a military-favoured candidate tipped to win.

Authorities said they were suspending mobile telephone services across the country during voting “to maintain law and order” following a bloody election campaign — including two blasts on Wednesday that killed 28 people.

Pollsters have predicted a low turnout from the country’s 128 million eligible voters following a lacklustre election campaign overshadowed by the jailing of former prime minister Imran Khan, and the hobbling of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party by the military-led establishment. (AFP)

Pakistanis on Thursday began voting in the general elections to elect a new government to rule the cash-strapped country amid speculation that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N may emerge as the largest party in Parliament as it is backed by the powerful military.

The polling started at 8.00 AM and will continue without any break till 5.00 PM. A countrywide public holiday has been declared to enable a total of 128,585,760 registered voters to cast their votes.

The counting will start soon after the conclusion of the voting. (PTI)

Pakistan suspends mobile telephone service for election day: interior ministry. (AFP)

Pakistan Elections: As Pakistan heads for yet another crucial general Assembly elections, a bombing at an independent candidate’s election office on Wednesday killed 10 people in southwest Pakistan the day before elections. Pakistan is scheduled to go into polls on 8 February 2024.

Pakistan, a nation of nearly 250 million people, will vote to elect a national government and members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. Read here.

The next government will have a long to-do list: fixing the economy, improving relations with the neighbouring, Taliban-run Afghanistan, repairing crumbling infrastructure and resolving year-round power outages. Last but not least is contains religious and separatist militant groups.

Pakistan has been relying on bailouts to prop up its foreign exchange reserves and avoid default, with the International Monetary Fund and wealthy allies like China and Saudi Arabia financing the country to the tune of billions of dollars. The IMF, which last July approved a much-awaited $3 billion bailout, has warned of sustained high inflation this year, around 24%, and a rise in poverty levels. (AP)

Pakistan will hold elections for a new parliament on Thursday. As many as 44 political parties are vying for a share of the 266 seats that are up for grabs in the national assembly, or the lower house of parliament, with an additional 70 seats reserved for women and minorities.

Here are the key players ahead of Pakistan’s elections,

1) Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League: Business mogul, multi-millionaire and three-time premier, Nawaz Sharif hails from one of the top two families that have dominated Pakistani politics for decades. His Pakistan Muslim League party won landslide victories in 2007 and 2013.

But the 74-year-old Sharif has never completed a term in office and was ousted from power each time: once by the military, once by the Supreme Court, and once by the president, AP reported. Read here.

Pakistan Elections: A list of some key events over the last few years leading up to Pakistan’s parliamentary election on Thursday:

July 25, 2018 — Pakistanis vote for a new government in an election marred by violence and allegations of fraud.

July 26, 2018 — Former cricket star Imran Khan wins the polls but has to seek out allies to form a coalition. A few weeks later, lawmakers elect him as the country’s prime minister.

Feb. 26, 2019 — Tensions escalate sharply in the region after India launched an airstrike inside Pakistan that New Delhi said targeted a terrorist training camp. Pakistan shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot in retaliation.

Aug. 15, 2021 — The Taliban seize power of Afghanistan during the final weeks of the U.S. and NATO troop withdrawal from the country after a costly two-decade war. Afghans, fearing for the future, race to the airport, one of the last routes out of Afghanistan, and also to the border crossings into Pakistan.

April 9, 2022 — Pakistan’s political opposition topples Imran Khan in a no-confidence vote in parliament. The opposition forms a new government, with Shehbaz Sharif, a brother of the disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, sworn in days later. Read here.

Pakistan election 2024: The 12.8 crore voters of Pakistan are all set to choose a new government on Thursday, an election happening under the close watch of the all-powerful Pakistan Army. Pakistan Muslim League’s Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the candidates of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are the main contenders for the top post. However, experts have indicated that Nawaz Sharif has the blessings of the Army.

“What is scheduled to happen on February 8 seems less like an election and more like a selection because Pakistan’s Army has shown us in the past few days what result they are desiring in the upcoming elections. They want Nawaz Sharif to be selected,” former high commissioner of India to Islamabad Ajay Bisaria told news agency ANI. Read here.

At least 30 people were killed and more than 40 others injured on Wednesday in twin blasts targeting election offices in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, a day before the general elections in the coup-prone country.

In the first incident, a powerful blast outside the office of independent candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar in Pishin district killed 20 people and wounded 30 others.

Less than an hour later, another blast took place outside the election office of a Jamiat-Ulema Islam-Pakistan in the Killa Abdullah area claiming the lives of 10 people and injuring 22 others, officials said. (PTI)

Pakistan on Wednesday dismissed UN human rights body concerns about violence and the right to fundamental democratic freedom ahead of general elections in the country, saying the government has finalised the security plans according to its electoral laws.

Pakistan upholds the rule of law and protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by its laws and constitution, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement, in apparent response to a statement issued by a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over violent incidents ahead of the upcoming general elections set to take place on February 8. (PTI)

Pakistani politics are dominated by men and three parties: the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The top contender is PML-N and on its ballot are two former prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.

Their ally the PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, a member of a political dynasty, has a power base in the country’s south. Though it’s unlikely to get enough votes to get him the premiership, he could still be part of a Sharif-led coalition government.

However, it is the absence from the ballot of PTI’s founder, cricket legend turned Islamist politician, Imran Khan, that’s at the forefront of public discourse in Pakistan. (AP)

Pakistan general elections are set to be held on February 8 after months of delay. The country has been at the centre of political, economic and even judicial drama over the past year. However, many voters still wonder if the balloting can bring any real change in the country.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is also India’s immediate neighbour (or rival) as several disputes remain unsolved between the two countries. India has often accused Pakistan of harbouring terrorists, while Pakistan wants to fight India over the Kashmir issue and the Indus Waters Treaty.

In this situation, the stand of Pakistan’s new prime minister on India could be important to understand. So, here’s a look at Pakistan’s prime minister candidates and their stance on India in the past. Read here.

Google has showcased a special doodle as Pakistan’s 12.8 crore voters are all set to choose a new government today. The doodle depicted voting paper being placed into a ballot box with the sign of the national flag on it. Read here