Three politicians who won election while in prison

LAHORE : On the soil of Lahore, three politicians have set a unique record of winning the general elections without becoming the part of election campaign as they were facing imprisonment.

In the 1985 general elections and in 2002, the voters from Lahore elected three figures who were not physically the part of election campaign and were behind the bars.

These winners took oath after Production Orders were issued.

First such precedent was seen in the year 1985 when Sheikh Rohail Asghar got elected as MNA and his brother Sheikh Shakeel became MPA.

Both the brothers were under arrest at that time and their campaign was run by their supporters.

In that contest from the then NA-83, Lahore, Sheikh Rohail Asghar won the seat while securing 46,646 votes against Mian Abdul Kabir who could get 19,056 votes. Sheikh Rohail won that contest with big margin, and highest by anyone without participating in the campaign.

His brother Sheikh Shakeel Asghar won from the then PP-98 while getting 27,831 votes and Mian Imtiaz Khaliq stood at number two with 6,064 votes.

Besides, 17 years later, in the year 2002, the acting President of PMLN Makhdum Javaid Hashmi won from NA-123, a seat of Lahore while he was in prison during Musharraf era.

He secured around 29,000 votes and PPP's Tariq Waheed Butt was runner up with around 18,000 votes.