ISLAMABAD: The counting of votes was underway after polling ended for a by-election in National Assembly constituency, NA-148, in Pakistan’s Multan on Sunday, state-run media reported.

Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani won the NA-148 seat in Multan in the contentious Feb. 8 national election. However, Gillani vacated the seat after he was elected to the post of Senate chairman in April.

Polling for Sunday’s by-election began at 8am and continued uninterrupted till 5pm. The constituency has a total of 444,231 registered voters, and 275 polling stations and 933 polling booths were set up for the exercise.

“Counting of votes is underway after polling for bye-election in NA-148 Multan-1 concluded at 5:00 pm,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

Eight candidates including the ex-PM Imran Khan-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) leader Taimur Malik and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Ali Qasim Gillani, were vying for the seat.

Authorities made comprehensive security arrangements free, fair and transparent conduct of polls in the constituency.

Pakistan’s national election on Feb. 8 was marred by a countrywide shutdown of mobile phone services. The results of the polls, which were declared unfair by Khan and his party, threw up a hung parliament in which no political party emerged with the majority to form its government.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which formed the largest bloc in the National Assembly after winning over 90 seats, said it won a two-thirds majority but was denied victory by Pakistan’s election regulator, accusing it of manipulating votes.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denied the allegations and so did the caretaker government.