**ISLAMABAD: The time for polling for Senate elections has come to an end and counting of votes is underway in Balochistan, Sindh Provincial Assemblies and National Assembly except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There is a real competition between Hafeez Sheikh and Yousaf raza Gillani. ****

Voting for the two Senate seats in the National Assembly has ended and 340 out of 341 members casted their votes. Abdul Akbar Chatrali of Jamaat-e-Islami did not cast his vote, while Shahriar Afridi's vote was wasted.

Polling for 37 seats of the Upper House started at 9 am and continued till 5 pm without any break. For the Senate elections, the National and four Provincial Assemblies have been turned into polling stations and the staff of the Election Commission has taken control of the Assemblies. Staff of the National Assembly have been barred from entering the House and Election Commission staff or members of the electorate can enter the hall, while the media is also banned from carrying phones in the press gallery.

In the National Assembly, the Returning Officer announced that the vote would be casted and that the vote would be considered rejected.

PTI's Shafiq Arain casts first vote in National Assembly PTI's Shafiq Arain casts first vote in Senate for National Assembly elections Including several members have voted.

** Senate Election: Counting of votes continues in Sindh, Balochistan The counting of votes for the Senate election in the Sindh Assembly is underway after the election.

The first vote for the Senate election in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was cast by JUI-F member Hidayat-ur-Rehman. Zamrak Achakzai of the Awami National Party (ANP) and Mir Tariq Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) cast their first and second votes respectively for the Senate elections in the Balochistan Assembly.

Senate elections: Prime Minister Imran Khan casts his vote

In the Senate elections, Prime Minister Imran Khan cast his vote, after which he left the House. Prime Minister Imran Khan reached Parliament House to cast his vote in the Senate elections where he was received by government members. On the occasion, government members also chanted slogans in favor of Prime Minister Imran Khan while the Returning Officer continued to refrain from chanting slogans.

On arrival at the House, Prime Minister Imran Khan was called to cast his vote, after which he went to the Returning Officer to register his vote and cast his vote and left the House.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister also had an informal meeting with Hafeez Sheikh and other government ministers in the House.

Senate elections: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari cast his vote

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari cast his vote in the Senate elections.

Opposition members set up desks after Bilawal Bhutto Zardari cast his vote. On the other hand, on the occasion of the arrival of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif in the House, he was greeted by the opposition members by ringing the desk. Shahbaz Sharif forbade the members from chanting slogans.

All candidates in Punjab elected unopposed

All 11 senators from Punjab have been elected unopposed while today voting is going on for 2 seats in Islamabad, 11 seats in Sindh, 12 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 12 seats in Balochistan.

Members of the Provincial Assembly are voting for the provincial seats and members of the National Assembly are voting for the 2 seats in Islamabad.

In all, there are 39 candidates in the general seats, 18 in the women's seats, 13 in the technocrat seats and eight in the minority seats.

The biggest contest in the upper house is between the unanimous PDM candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani and the government candidate Hafeez Sheikh in Islamabad. In the Senate elections, 340 members of the National Assembly have exercised their franchise, 171 votes are required to win, while the government has 181 and the Opposition Coalition has 160 members.

Error in marking ballot papers from Asif Zardari during voting

Former President Asif Ali Zardari made a mistake in marking the ballot papers while voting in the Senate elections. Former President Asif Ali Zardari's ballot paper was lost during the Senate elections. The first ballot paper was shaken by Asif Zardari's hand and an irrelevant place was marked.

On which Asif Zardari requested for the second ballot paper, on which the Returning Officer gave the second ballot paper, after which former President Asif Ali Zardari cast his vote.

Earlier, former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari reached the National Assembly.

Answering a journalist's question on his arrival in the National Assembly, "How much hope is there for Gilani's victory?" Asif Zardari said, "We have hope from Allah. You cannot be from man."

Opposition members applauded the arrival of Asif Ali Zardari in the National Assembly. Asif Zardari and Shahbaz Sharif exchanged pleasantries. Bilawal Bhutto, Khawaja Asif and other members also gathered on the occasion.

Sindh Assembly: Mobile phone recovered from Khurram Sher Zaman's pocket during polling

A mobile phone has been recovered from the pocket of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Khurram Sher Zaman during the Senate elections in the Sindh Assembly. Carrying of mobile phones in polling stations is prohibited.

PPP MPA Shamim Mumtaz found a mobile phone in Khurram Sher Zaman's pocket with a dollar in his hand. When the mobile phone was recovered, the PPP staged a protest.

When the phone was found in the pocket of the PTI leader, a commotion started in the Sindh Assembly, on which other members of the PTI were also searched at the polling station.

Senate Election: Election Commission Monitoring Cell Receives 2 Complaints

The Election Commission's Monitoring Cell has so far received two complaints regarding the Senate elections, both related to voting in the Balochistan Assembly.

Polling for the Senate elections in the Balochistan Assembly began with a delay. The Election Commission directed the Presiding Officer of the Balochistan Assembly to address both the grievances.

Election Commission member Shah Muhammad Jatoi in the Balochistan Assembly has been directed to resolve the grievances as soon as possible.

Senate elections: Hafeez Sheikh seeks votes from Bilawal Bhutto

Government candidate for the Senate elections Hafeez Sheikh sought votes from PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto.

A meeting was held between Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh at the Parliament House.

Government candidate Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh sought votes from Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Yousuf Raza Gilani's polling agent Abdul Qadir Patel objected to the polling process

Abdul Qadir Patel, the polling agent of PDM's unanimous candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani, raised objections to the polling process.

During the polling, former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's polling agent Abdul Qadir Patel objected to the vote of Sheikh Rashid Shafiq.

Abdul Qadir Patel said that the polling officer checked the votes in the polling booth, the votes were checked under the pretext of fixing the lights, the vote of Sheikh Rashid Shafiq should be canceled, the polling officers were checking the votes for a long time.

The Returning Officer directed all the staff to leave the polling booth.

PTI defector Aslam Abro announces to vote for PPP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) defector Aslam Abro has announced to vote for PPP.

Aslam Abro said that I stand by my position, I will vote for whatever my conscience tells me, no child should be put in a car, I have come from my home in my car. The PTI defector further said that we had defeated the PPP in the elections, we were not able to solve the problems of the people, the people were expressing their displeasure with us.

The Election Commission has issued guidelines for the members of the National Assembly

The Election Commission of Pakistan has issued guidelines for members of the National Assembly.

According to the ECP guidelines, no voter, candidate or polling agent is allowed to carry a mobile phone.

The directive states that in order to get the ballot paper, the members have to show the card issued by the assembly, the ballot paper for the general seat will be white, the pink ballot paper has been issued for the women's seat, the ballot paper will be rejected ۔

Senate elections will be held in the past, Election Commission said

The Election Commission has decided to abide by the opinion of the Supreme Court and said that the Senate elections will be held under the procedure of the past and the ballot will be secret.

A statement was issued in the meeting chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner, in which it was decided that due to lack of time, Senate elections would be held under the previous procedure under the Constitution and law. The Supreme Court has said in its opinion that it is the responsibility of the Election Commission to make the elections transparent under Article 218 III. A mechanism will also be set up to make the elections fair and transparent.