Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz?s Iqbal Shah Qureshi (left) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf's Ali Tareen (right). Photo: Geo News file

 

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz?s Iqbal Shah Qureshi, in what was a major upset for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) before the general elections, won the by-poll for the constituency of NA-154 Lodhran, according to unofficial results from all 338 polling stations.

Qureshi managed to attain 113,542 votes, while his competitor, PTI's Ali Tareen, contesting his first election on his father Jahangir Tareen?s seat, attained 85,933 votes.

Qureshi, also known as Pir Iqbal, has two sons, one of whom is a member of the provincial assembly. Residents of the area know the newly elected MNA as a social worker and a faith healer. He owns one car and is well respected in the area of his residence.

A hospital, school, and a state-run degree college are operating on land donated by his father, Pir Karam Baksh Qureshi, for the welfare of residents of Lodhran.

A state-of-the-art trauma centre in Makhdoom Ali is also operating on land donated by Qureshi?s father.

Pir Iqbal graduated from Lahore and is an agriculturist by profession. He has declared assets worth Rs90.48 million.

He was elected as a tehsil nazim in 2005. In the recent municipal elections, Shah was elected as the Chairman Union Council but he later resigned from the position to contest the by-poll for the National Assembly seat 154 from Lodhran to Tareen.

Major upset in Lodhran as PML-N wins NA-154 by-election: unofficial results

PML-N won by a margin of 27,609 votes according to provisional results

Ali Tareen, son of the seasoned politician and businessman Jahangir Tareen, has three siblings. He is a husband and father.

He obtained a bachelor's degree in business from Canada and later attended Oxford University to receive his master?s degree in business.

Ali is the chief executive officer of two social organisations -- Lodhran Pilot Project and Tareen Education Foundation.

He has declared assets amounting to Rs3.6 billion.