Woman gives birth at a polling station in Pakistan

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

A Pakistani woman gave birth to a child in one of the polling stations of Punjab Assembly constituency PP-84 Khushab where the polling was being held on Wednesday to fill the seat vacated by the death of the lawmaker.

The child was born at the Mith Tiwana Rural Health Centre, which had been turned into a polling station for the by-poll.

The child’s father, Salamat, said he was ecstatic over the birth of his child. "I am very happy at the birth of my child on election day. We will name the child after giving some thought to it. This is his first child.” Following the delivery, the mother and the child are now fine.

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) legislator Malik Muhammad Waris Kallu, who died on March 12 from COVID-19.

The government has formed 10 teams to monitor the electoral process all the way to the announcement of the results.

The PML-N, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are among the parties contesting the by-election.

The polling started at 8am and continued till 5pm without any interval. Following reports of a clash between the workers of PTI and PML-N at a polling station, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took notice of the incident and directed the police to handle the situation.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Investigation, visited the spot and controlled the situation, the ECP said in a statement, adding that no untoward situation of law and order has been reported at the polling station. "Voting continued uninterrupted at the polling station.”

Earlier, the Punjab Election Commissioner, Ghulam Israr Khan, urged the voters to come and exercise their right without any fear. "Fool-proof security arrangements have been made and voters should abide by the COVID-19 standard operating procedures."