Twenty-six years after he won the cricket World Cup in 1992 as captain, Imran Khan, considered to be backed by his nation’s powerful army, widely referred to as “Laadla” (favourite son) — was racing ahead to become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. In a historic turn of events, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was leading in 102 parliamentary seats — way ahead of his rivals, PML(N) at 64 and PPP at 30, according to Geo News TV channel. In the directly contested 272 seats in Pakistan’s Parliament, 137 is the halfway mark for a simple majority.

If he manages to pull through, a relatively new political party will be ahead of the two established political parties Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML (N)), led by Nawaz Sharif’s brother and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and Pakistan Peoples Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Late tonight, PTI’s Twitter handle tweeted; “Yesssss!!! #JeetayGaKaptaan”, in a reference to his captaincy of the cricket team.

PML(N)’s defeat, after five years of power, means that Sharif’s politically risky move to come back to Pakistan and surrendering before the authorities after being charged with corruption allegations arising out of Panama Papers scandal, did not quite pay off. He, along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Captain (retd) Safdar, are in Adyala jail.

Express Explained | Generals aren’t contesting — but will be the biggest players today and later. Here’s why

Politician Khan is an untested commodity across the border and India will be watching his moves very closely as Indo-Pakistan ties have been in deep freeze for over two years now. His outreach to religious fundamentalists has also made Delhi wary about his future moves.

However, Pakistan’s election hardly saw any mention of India during the election campaign. Kashmir was mentioned a few times, including in his party manifesto using the predictable line of a solution as per UNSC resolution.

For India, Sharif was Delhi’s best bet as he had been in favour of a better relationship but was seen to be hemmed in by Pakistan’s Army. Many Pakistan-watchers felt that he was removed in what was described to be a “judicial coup” for challenging Pakistan’s Army on foreign and security policy.

As results are pouring in and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former president Asif Ali Zardari was also leading in 30 seats, he could play a significant role — in case Imran Khan’s PTI falls short.

Also read | Blast kills 35, injures over 67 in Quetta in Pakistan on election day

Independents were ahead on 25 seats, and many with “jeep” symbols are seen to be backed by Pakistan’s army.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of traditional religious parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami led by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl headed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan led by Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani and Tehreek-e-Jafaria led by Allama Sajid Naqvi, was leading in eight national assembly seats.

In one of the constituencies, Mumbai-terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led banned Jamat-ud Dawa’s candidate was leading.

Pakistan Army spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted videos of Army chief General Qamar Bajwa voting in Rawalpindi and quoted him: “We are the target of inimical forces working against Pak. We’ve come a long way in our comprehensive national effort to fail them. We are united & steadfast to defeat them, and ‘TODAY’ through our ‘VOTES’. Please come out & vote undeterred”.

Later, after the voting ended, Ghafoor tweeted, “Thank you fellow Pakistanis. World has seen your love & respect for Pak Armed Forces…today. U hv rejected all kinds of malicious propaganda. We are strong because we have your unflinching support. Our lives are dedicated to Pakistan and its People. Pakistan wins again!”

Express Opinion | Pakistan goes into an election as army trips government, coopts judiciary, coerces media into submission

Pakistan’s National Assembly has a total of 342 members, of whom 272 are directly elected whereas the remaining 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. These are selected later through proportional representation among parties with more than five per cent of the vote. A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total.

In Mianwali, the results of the 56 of the 370 polling stations show that Imran Khan is leading in the constituency with 29,228 votes while PML-N’s Obaidullah is trailing behind with 6,008 votes.

PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif, who was hoping to become the next prime minister, was leading with 4,230 votes in NA-249 (Karachi West-II), according to trends. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was leading with 5,218 votes in NA-200 (Larkana I).

According to the Pakistan Election Commission, 3,459 candidates are in the race for 272 general seats of the National Assembly, while 8,396 candidates are running for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies — Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. More than 30 political parties have fielded their candidates for the elections.

In the Punjab Assembly, PML-N and PTI were in a neck-and-neck fight with both leading in 54 and 43 seats respectively according to trends available for 119 seats out of 297 seats.

In the Sindh Assembly, PPP was emerging as the single largest party in its traditional bastion. The party was leading in 31 seats according to trends available for 45 seats out of 131 seats. PTI was leading on five seats while PML-N was ahead on one.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, PTI was leading in seven of 99 assembly seats.

Hours after polling began for the general elections, an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up outside a polling station in Bhosa Mandi area of Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, killing 31 people, including policemen. In separate incidents, four persons were killed in poll-related violence. Clashes erupted between rival parties outside several polling stations, reports said.

Nearly 10.6 crore people were registered to vote. For a smooth polling process, Pakistan’s poll panel deployed around 1.6 million staff at polling stations across the country. It was criticised for deploying the Army both inside and outside polling stations.

For all the latest Pakistan News, download Indian Express App</s>People wait in queue at a polling station to cast their votes in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. After an acrimonious campaign, polls opened in Pakistan on Wednesday to elect the country’s third straight civilian election, a first for this majority Muslim nation that has been directly or indirectly ruled by its military for most of its 71-year history. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) People wait in queue at a polling station to cast their votes in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. After an acrimonious campaign, polls opened in Pakistan on Wednesday to elect the country’s third straight civilian election, a first for this majority Muslim nation that has been directly or indirectly ruled by its military for most of its 71-year history. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

In a progressive step, women of Upper Dir, a conservative tribal district of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, set a precedent on Wednesday by casting their vote in Pakistan’s general elections, PTI quoted a media report.

Women in Upper Dir, which was once a Taliban stronghold, had been deprived of their right to cast their ballots since the 70s, when the country held its first general elections, on the pretext of cultural taboos.

Women were seen standing outside the polling stations in constituencies NA-5 and PK-12 of Upper Dir as the country went to polls, PTI quoted Geo news.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had said that a constituency which stopped women from voting, the election in its constituency would become invalid.

The ECP added that in case the female turnout in the elections should be lower than 10 per cent, the results of the constituency would be declared invalid.

Upper Dir has a total of 447,414 registered voters. Nearly 106 million people are registered to vote in the elections. The polling began at 8.00 am Pakistan time and will conclude at 6.00 pm and the results are likely to be announced within 24 hours.

The contest in Pakistan has largely boiled down to a tight race between former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

For all the latest Pakistan News, download Indian Express App</s>At least 32 people were killed and several injured mostly in a suicide bombing in Balochistan on Wednesday as millions of voters queued up across Pakistan to elect a new government.

The Balochistan bombing targeted the convoy of Deputy Inspector General of Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema near a polling station. It left 31 persons, including some policemen, dead. The senior police official escaped unhurt, Geo News reported.

The area was crowded as people were making their way to vote at Tameer-e-Nau Model School. Polling was halted at the polling station.

While polling stations officially opened for voting at 8 a.m., enthusiastic citizens queued up outside their respective stations as early as 7 a.m. Voting will officially end at 6 p.m. while as counting of the votes was being done simultaneously.

Results for the 11th general elections are expected to trickle in immediately after the polling ends with the final outcome likely by Thursday morning or afternoon, according to election officials.

A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker was killed and two others injured as party activists clashed with Awami National Party (ANP) workers outside a polling station in Nawan Kali in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to Express News.

The workers of the two parties clashed in Mardan as well. Several people have been injured in the firing incident. Following the clash, police took control of the affected area.

Two people were also injured in a firing incident in Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan.

In a separate incident, four people were injured in a blast outside a political camp in Larkana, in Sindh province, the home of the Bhutto family.

Independent candidate Jibran Nasir said that Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan supporters attacked a facilitation camp he had set up in Chandio Village in Karachi.

As many as 12,570 candidates are contesting for a total of 849 seats of national and provincial assemblies in the general election. Nearly 106 million people are eligible to vote.

The battle is set to come down to three parties: Shahbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Imran Khan’s PTI.

In an effort to increase voter participation, the Election Commission has declared a public holiday on Wednesday.

Over four lakh security personnel have been deployed at polling stations across the country to maintain law and order and take action against harassment, after the nation witnessed one of the bloodiest campaigning, inlcuding the July 13 bombing that killed 150 people.

According to a poll official, 5,878 polling stations have been declared “highly sensitive” — official euphemism to mean they are prone to violence — in Sindh; 5,487 in Punjab and Islamabad; 3,874 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA and 1,768 in Balochistan.

The elections are being held as emotions run over a graft case that led to the imprisonment of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

Sharif’s PML-N has condemned the legal cases facing its members, and reported pressures to leave the party along with harassment to prevent it from returning to power after its absolute majority in 2013.

These elections are the second in Pakistan’s history in which a government was able to complete its term to make way for another government after being ruled by military dictators for half of the 71 years of its existence since its founding in 1947.</s>Just under 106 million voters - half of the population - braved visits to polling stations despite an Islamic State suicide bomb killing 31 people. Polls closed at 6pm (2pm BST) on Wednesday but vote counting has been delayed due to computer counting failures and accusations of vote-rigging. An election winner has yet to be formally declared but cricketeer-turned-politican Imran Khan is out in front after 47 percent of polling stations were counted.

His Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party has so far secured 113 results out of 272 National Assembly constituencies. Leader Shehbaz Sharif, brother of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, expressed concerns of corruption and said his party will not accept the result. He told a Lahore press conference the party "completely reject these results”, adding there had been a "blatant violation of public's mandate".

His accusations centre on official ballot results paperwork, known as a Form-45, not being shared with his party at polling stations. Women were also allegedly barred from voting at some polling stations yesterday by the military, which backs anti-feminist Mr Khan. Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Mohammad Raza has denied the accusations saying “elections were 100 percent transparent and fair”. When will the official results be announced? Due to computer glitches, the remaining votes are being continued manually.

They were due to come in by 2am local time (10pm BST on Wednesday). Former cricket player and playboy Imran Khan, 65, is expected to win. His spokesman Naeemul Hague said Mr Khan will “address the nation” at 2pm local time (10am BST) “in celebration and recognition of the massive support received from the people of Pakistan in the 2018 elections which was a contest between the forces of good and evil”. But an official result time has yet to be announced by the Pakistan Electoral Commission.</s>PAKISTAN cricket star turned politician Imran Khan has declared victory for his party in the country’s general elections, promising a “new” Pakistan following a vote that was marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence.

Khan, who aspires to be the country’s next prime minister, said in a televised address to the nation that “thanks to God, we won and we were successful”.

“If God wills, we will set an example,” he added.

Pakistan’s election commission has not yet released official, final results but Khan has maintained a commanding lead according to projections by many television stations, though it’s unclear if his Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, would get a simple majority or have to form a coalition government. Election officials said an official count confirming Pakistan’s next government was expected later in the evening.

Earlier, Khan’s first wife, British socialite Jemima Goldsmith tweeted her prediction that Mr Khan would be PM.

Khan’s message of a “new” Pakistan resonated with young voters in a country where 64 per cent of its 200 million people are below the age of 30, according to a United Nations report.

More than a dozen TV channels in Pakistan, based on official but partial counts, were projecting — using their own, undisclosed methodologies — that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is getting as many as 119 seats of the 270 National Assembly seats that were contested.

The remainder in the 342-seat Lower House of Parliament includes reserved seats for women and minorities. Voting for two seats was postponed after one candidate died during the campaign and another was disqualified.

But before even half the votes were counted, Khan’s leading rival Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League — the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif — rejected the vote, generating fears that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government. Television projections give his party hardly 61 seats.

In a tweet on his official page, Sharif said “our democratic process has been pushed back by decades,” adding that “had the public mandate been delivered in a fair manner, we would have accepted it happily.”

Complaints have also emerged from the independent Human Rights Commission, which issued a statement saying that in some places women were not allowed to vote. In other areas, it said, “polling staff appeared to be biased toward a certain party,” without naming the party. In the days before Wednesday’s election, leading rights activist I.A. Rehman called the campaign “the dirtiest” in his country’s troubled journey toward sustained democracy.

Analysts have expressed concern that disgruntled losers could create instability for the incoming new government, which will face mounting challenges — including a crumbling economy, a crippling debt and a raging militancy.

As voting got underway on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital, militants sent a suicide bomber to a crowding polling station to carry out a deadly attack that killed 31 people.

The election, in which Pakistanis voted for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and the four provincial assemblies, marked only the second time in Pakistan’s 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another in the country of 200 million people.

Yet there have been widespread concerns during the election campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled Pakistan for most of its existence. The military had deployed 350,000 troops at the 85,000 polling stations.

In a tweet on his official account, Pakistan’s military spokesman Gen Asif Ghafoor called accusations of interference “malicious propaganda.”

Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber struck at a political rally, killing 149 people, including the candidate Siraj Raisani. Another 400 were wounded. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack. Baluchistan has been roiled by relentless attacks, both by the province’s secessionists and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites there.

Throughout the night and into Thursday, Khan supporters celebrated outside party offices countrywide. Most of the revellers were young men, who danced to the sound of beating drums draped in Tehreek-e-Insaf party black and green-coloured flags.</s>ISLAMABAD, Jul 25 (APP):The polling for general election 2018 started on Wednesday throughout the country to elect candidates for National and provincial assemblies.

 The polling which was started at 8:00am will continue without any break till 6:pm. The

 Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed all arrangements to hold free, fair and transparent elections.

 Total 105,955,409 registered voters will cast their vote that included 59,224,263 male and

 46,731,146 female voters.

 The ECP has established total 85,058 polling stations and 244,687 polling booths throughout the country. A total of 819,119 polling staff have been deputed.

 Total 11,673 candidates are contesting elections out of which 3,428 are for National

 Assembly while 8,245 are for provincial assemblies. For National Assembly 1,805

 candidates are contesting election from different political parties while 1,623 are independent candidates.

 Similarly, for provincial assemblies, as many as 3,856 candidates are contesting from political parties while 4,389 independent candidates are also contesting. For reserved seats 44 candidates are contesting election for National Assembly while 113 for provincial assemblies for Non-Muslim reserved seats.

 As many as 172 candidates for National Assembly and 386 candidates for provincial assembly will contest for provincial assemblies on seats reserved for Women.</s>People stand in a line as they wait for a polling station to open, during general election in Rawalpindi, Pakistan July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistanis began voting on Wednesday in a knife-edge general election between former cricketer Imran Khan against the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Reuters witnesses and national media reported.

Most forecasters are predicting a hung parliament that will require a coalition government as the razor thin polling lead by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party over Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is unlikely to result in a majority from the 272 elected seats in the National Assembly.</s>The Latest: Khan votes, hoping to become Pakistan's next PM

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Latest on Pakistan's elections (all times local):

Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan, who aspires to be the country's next prime minister, has cast his ballot near his suburban home in the capital, Islamabad.

Khan voted as elections got underway in Pakistan where the nation is electing a new National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and four provincial assemblies on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, an explosion outside a crowded polling station in the southwestern city of Quetta killed 25 people and wounded 40.

Another prominent candidate in the elections — late Prime minister Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari — also cast his vote, in his native town of Larkana.

Khan, who heads Tehrik-e-Insaf, or Justice Party, is likely to do well in the elections. He arrived at the polling station to warm greetings from supporters who showered his vehicle with rose petals.

After voting, Khan appealed on Pakistanis to come out in large numbers and vote sensibly "to save future generations."

The young Zaradri, who is now heading her slain mother's Pakistan People's Party, condemned the bombing in Quetta.

A Pakistan hospital official says an explosion outside crowded polling station in southwestern city of Quetta has killed 25 people and wounded 40. Jaffer Kakar, a doctor, says five policemen and two children are among the dead. He fears the death toll could rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition.

Wednesday's attack comes as Pakistanis vote in general elections for 270 members of the law-making National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Abdur Razzaq Cheema, the police chief in Quetta, Baluchistan's provincial capital, says the explosion took place when near the city's eastern bypass.

Baluchistan also saw the deadliest suicide bombing in the run-up to election day, with 149 people, including a provincial assembly candidate, killed at a campaign this month.

Pakistani police say a shooting between supporters of two opposing political parties has left one person dead and wounded two people in a village near the northwestern city of Sawabi.

It is the first violence on election day in Pakistan. Ahead of Wednesday's balloting, over 170 people — including three candidates running in the elections — were killed in suicide bombings in southwestern Baluchistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Police officer Khalid Hamdani says it's unclear what triggered the shootout between a group of supporters of the secular Awami National Party, which has often bbeen targeted by the Taliban, and the Tehrik-e-Insaf led by former cricket star Imran Khan, a center-right party.

Hamdani says the situation is now under control and voting is underway in Col Sher Khan village.

A hard-line Pakistani cleric who heads an alliance of religious parties and the country's parliament speaker have cast their ballots in the general elections underway in Pakistan.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman voted in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan soon after polls opened on Wednesday.

His Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal is a potential threat to opposition leader, former cricket star Imran Khan's party in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Khan's party has ruled the province for the last five years.

Rehman appealed to citizens after casting his ballot to cast their votes with the full sense of responsibility so capable hands could take over the country.

Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of the National Assembly, voted in the eastern city of Lahore.

Pakistan Muslim League chief Shahbaz Sharif cast his vote in the eastern city of Lahore soon after polls opened in national elections.

Sharif, the younger brother of disgraced ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, took over the ruling Pakistan Muslim League last year after his brother was found guilty of corruption. The ex-prime minister has since been sentenced to 10 years in jail, which he is serving while appealing the conviction.

The younger Sharif stood in line waiting his turn to enter the polling booth. In Pakistan, a candidate can run for elections in multiple seats. If the candidate wins more than one seat, a by-election will be held as a person can represent only one constituency.

Sharif marked his ballot for both the National and Punjab provincial Parliaments and is contesting elections in four National Assembly seats and in two Punjab provincial legislature seats.

Pakistanis began voting in a historic third straight election ending a campaign marred by widespread allegations of manipulation that local and international rights group say imperils the country's wobbly transition to democratic rule.

There are 85,307 polling stations across Pakistan and more than 11,000 candidates are vying for 270 seats in parliament and 570 seats in four provincial assemblies. Voting for two parliament seats and six seats in provincial assemblies has been postponed for a later date, due to attacks on candidates or disqualifications. One candidate in the Sindh provincial assembly was unopposed and has already secured that seat.

Under Pakistani law, separate seats are reserved for women and for non-Muslim minorities, who comprise 4 percent of the population.</s>ISLAMABAD, Jul 25 (APP):The polling for general election 2018 started on Wednesday throughout the country to elect candidates for National and provincial assemblies.

 The polling which was started at 8:00am will continue without any break till 6:pm. The

 Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed all arrangements to hold free, fair and transparent elections.

 Total 105,955,409 registered voters will cast their vote that included 59,224,263 male and

 46,731,146 female voters.

 The ECP has established total 85,058 polling stations and 244,687 polling booths throughout the country. A total of 819,119 polling staff have been deputed.

 Total 11,673 candidates are contesting elections out of which 3,428 are for National

 Assembly while 8,245 are for provincial assemblies. For National Assembly 1,805

 candidates are contesting election from different political parties while 1,623 are independent candidates.

 Similarly, for provincial assemblies, as many as 3,856 candidates are contesting from political parties while 4,389 independent candidates are also contesting. For reserved seats 44 candidates are contesting election for National Assembly while 113 for provincial assemblies for Non-Muslim reserved seats.

 As many as 172 candidates for National Assembly and 386 candidates for provincial assembly will contest for provincial assemblies on seats reserved for Women.</s>Polls have closed across Pakistan in the national election of a third straight civilian government in the Islamic nation.

Polls have closed across Pakistan in the national election of a third straight civilian government in the Islamic nation.

The leading contenders are former cricket star Imran Khan and his right-of-centre Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI) and the right-of-centre Pakistan Muslim League, the party of disgraced prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Sharif is in jail serving 10 years on corruption charges and his younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, has taken control of the party.

The third-largest party in the running is the left-leaning Pakistan People’s Party, headed by Bilawal Bhutto.

He is the son of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated by Pakistan’s Taliban militants, whom she had vowed to eradicate.
Voters in Pakistan go to the polls to elect the members of the National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan.