The election of the Chief Minister in Pakistan's Punjab province is taking place on Friday, July 22. The two major political parties of the country, Muslim League-N and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, are claiming that their candidate will win.
The provincial capital Lahore has now become a hotbed of political activities and political manipulation.
Both the parties have booked entire hotels where their respective MLAs have been gathered before the election.
Muslim League-N has gathered its members in a hotel near Allama Iqbal International Airport while Tehreek-e-Insaf has gathered its members in a private hotel located on Mall Road. Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Pervez Elahi himself has also shifted to the hotel.
Both parties are accusing each other of breaking up their members.
Tehreek-e-Insaf says that their members are being bought by paying crores of rupees, while PML-N has also released video messages of its members who were allegedly offered huge sums of money by Tehreek-e-Insaf in exchange for votes.
On Friday, the voting process will begin in the Punjab Assembly building at 3 pm while the meeting will be presided over by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari.
According to the order of the Lahore High Court, if any party tries to obstruct the voting process in this meeting, contempt of court action will be taken against him.
Voting will be done by show of hands. According to political observers, the situation will become clear as soon as the Assembly session begins, who will be the Chief Minister of Punjab.
It should be noted that according to the order of the Lahore High Court, the election of the Chief Minister of Punjab will be a run-off election and the process will be completed by counting the members found inside the hall within the stipulated time. Both political parties have adopted a strategy that their members should not be absent from the proceedings of the House for any reason.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan is also arriving in Lahore and he will also address the assembly members of his party.
After the Punjab by-elections, PML-N and its allies have 180 members, while Tehreek-e-Insaf and its allies have 187 members.
The Muslim League claims that a large number of Tehreek-e-Insaaf members do not want to see Pervez Elahi as their chief minister, so they will not be a part of the voting process. However, Tehreek-e-Insaaf claims that all its members are currently staying in a private hotel and Parvez Elahi has their full confidence.