Counting of votes begins at Pakistan polling stations
Islamabad, July 25 : Counting of votes began on Wednesday at various poll booths in Pakistan where polling was over, media reports said.
Even as the doors of polling stations closed at 6 p.m, voters present inside the booths were allowed to cast their votes.
Polling began at 8 a.m across the country's 85,307 polling stations and continued until 6 p.m despite calls by major parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), to extend the voting time by an hour.
The parties had complained of "slow voting process" and therefore had sought more time to facilitate voters, a request that was dismissed by the Election Commission (EC), Geo News reported.
The election campaign was marred by violence, with three candidates killed in targeted attacks and culminated with a suicide blast outside a polling station in Quetta which claimed at least 37 lives.
However, undeterred, a majority of Pakistan's nearly 106 million registered voters came out to cast their ballot, including women in areas where they previously stood disenfranchised due to various issues.
As many as 12,570 candidates contested for a total of 849 seats of national and provincial assemblies in the country's 11th General Election.
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Fan tries to die by suicide over Nikhil Kumaraswamy's bypoll loss
Bengaluru: Channapatna JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who lost the byelection to C.P. Yogeshwar of Congress, on Sunday consoled a fan who reportedly attempted to end his life and requested him not to repeat such acts.
Manjunath, fondly called Abhi, had even penned a letter before taking the dangerous step. Nikhil, who called on Manjunath at the latter’s home in Kudloor in Channapatna, expressed shock and sadness over the incident.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy reassured Manjunath, expressing his support during the difficult time. He told him that he was deeply troubled to learn of this incident and emphasised that he would stand by him. Nikhil also promised to offer assistance in any way he could, including helping him secure employment opportunities in the future, as reported by the Deccan Herald.
He also reminded Manjunath of the importance of his children’s well-being, urging him to focus on their future. “Please, look at the faces of your growing children. Even I have a three-year-old son. The children are young, let us take care of their future also. I will arrange some job opportunities for you. I might not be an MLA but this is a challenge. I will get you employed,” he said.
Nikhil told media persons that he is extremely hurt more by Manjunath’s attempt to die than by his loss in the election. “At 7:30 a.m., we got a message that in Valetoopu, Manjunath had consumed poison yesterday. In Channapatna, our workers and leaders have built this party with zeal. Let the admiration be there in your hearts but if it crosses the line, your families get hurt and we get very pained by it,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.
Speaking of his byelection loss, Nikhil reiterated that the JD(S) had got its traditional votes, but that the votes of a particular community went against the party.
“Deve Gowda gave reservation to a community. We tried our last attempt to take that community into confidence. But they conveyed to us that they do not require us. In future, we will take other communities into confidence,” he remarked in a veiled reference to Muslims.
Nikhil lost the election by a margin of 25,413 votes to Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwar.
