Daily Times

NA-245 KARACHI EAST IV

KARACHI: Following the Rangers-led Karachi operation, all parties are running their election campaigns quite peacefully in NA-245, Karachi East-IV.

The areas in the constituency used to be a stronghold of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and it was near impossible for others to canvass for votes here.

Almost all candidates are running their campaigns actively, while party flags, banners, and pamphlets can be seen everywhere in the constituency.

Interestingly, election posters and pamphlets of most parties in this constituency pay greater emphasis to religious slogans, instead of political promises.

It is a newly-created a constituency, and it comprises the areas of Jamshed Quarters Subdivision and Firozabad Subdivision that were previously in the western portion of the old NA-252.

The vote bank is a blend of affluent, middle, lower-middle and working class people. Most of the residents are professionals or business people, including Memon and Bohri communities along with Punjabi Sodagrans of Delhi lineage. This time some areas of Mehmood Abad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Azam Town, PIB Colony and Chineser ghoth have also been included in this constituency.

Major parts of this constituency consist of Urdu speaking population, while remaining areas have Punjabi, Pakhtun and Seraiki speakers as well. Historically, these areas have been considered strongholds of the MQM. Their condition has become deplorable over the years, especially due to broken roads, water shortages and sanitation problems.

Following the unexpected and unprecedented debacle of MQM in recent years, candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have emerged as main opponents in the constituency.

Shahjehan, a resident of Lines Area (a stronghold of MQM), says, “We are quite happy this time seeing that all parties are doing election activities freely.”

Muhammad Kashif, a resident of Khudad Colony, says, “I will vote for PTI because this time the city needs change. Despite enjoying power for many years, MQM and PPP have done nothing for the residents.”

PTI has awarded party ticket to renowned televangelist Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar is contesting from this constituency. Aamir Liaquat was a part of MQM until Altaf Hussain’s August 22, 2016, provocative speech. After parting ways with MQM, Liaqat joined PTI in March this year. He was earlier denied ticket by the PTI. Subsequently, Imran Khan reportedly spoke to the local leadership and all issues pertaining to the party ticket was resolved.

During a survey, Daily Times came across a quite interesting fact that most of the voters who were willing to vote for PTI were finding it hard given the candidate fielded by the party. The controversial TV personality does not seem to be very popular among the middle class population in PECHS block II to VI, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and New Town.

Muhammad Junaid, a local businessman, says, “I have been waiting for elections so long because I wanted to cast vote for PTI, but after the announcement of Aamir Liaqat’s candidature, I have decide not to vote for any party”.

The constituency boasts of having one of the most famous shopping hubs of the country, the market on Tariq Road, and the oldest zoo in Sindh, the Karachi Zoological Garden, which is located on Nishter Road.

Apart from PTI and MQM, there are six other main candidates including PML-N’s Khawaja Tariq Nazir, PPP’s Farrukh Niaz Tanoli, MMA’s Saifud Din, ANP’s Samina Huma Mir, PSP’s Sagheer Ahmad and TLP’s Muhammad Ahmad Raza.

In terms of their campaigns, PTI seems to have an upper hand, with Aamir Liaqat arranging door-to-door contacts, corner meetings and visits to commercial areas on a daily basis. The party’s main rally was held last Sunday at Shahrahe Quaideen near Aamir Liaqat’s residence. PTI chief Imran Khan also visited different parts of the constituency last week.

Similarly, TLP also seems quite active in the constituency as it is holding rallies, corner meetings and door-to-door visits. TLP is gaining a lot of support from the barelvi voters.

On the other hand, MQM-P has not yet officially launched its election campaign in the constituency. Recently, Dr Sattar claimed that his party flags and banners were removed from different areas of the city and his party candidates were not allowed to carry out election campaign. Sattar said that due to the hurdles his party had been unable to launch the campaign.

Internal sources said lack of funds was a main reason behind the sluggish election activities of MQM-P, adding that because of a shortage of money available to arrange corner meetings and other election-related activities, the MQM-P seemed unable to compete with others.

In a survey, Daily Times noted that despite its flashy election campaign and MQM-P’s poor visibility, PTI may still find it tough to beat the party since most of the Urdu speaking voters still associate with it.

Also, having a majority in local bodies and the seat of the city’s mayor, MQM-P is able to solve basic problems of the locality. The party is relying heavily on its chairmen and councillors (denotified for the time being) who have remained busy in undertaking development works, instead of running the election campaign.

It appears that PTI and MQM- P will have a tough competition, while other parties like MMA, TLP and PSP will only dent the two major parties’ vote bank.

In 2013, there were total 12 candidates in old NA-252, and MQM’s candidate Abdul Rashid Godial won the seat with a heavy margin, pocketing 91,339 votes. PTI’s Syed Ali Haider Zaidi was the runner up, taking 49,622 votes. Muhammad Hussain Mehnti of Jamaat-e-Islami and Muahmmad Hussain Karimi of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) remained on third and fourth positions with 16,342 and 3,566 votes, respectively.

Election posters and pamphlets of most parties in this constituency pay greater emphasis to religious slogans, instead of political promises.

In 2008, MQM’s Abdul Rashid Godial won by taking 87,280 votes and PPPP’s Syed Asghar Hussain was the runner -up with 25,337 votes. In 2002, Muhammad Hussain Mehanti of JI won the seat with 33,089 votes against MQM’s Muhammd Intizar Hussain Qureshi who got 22,862 votes.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the number of registered voters in NA-245 is 443540, including 239893 men and 203647 women. Under the new delimitations, the constituency consists of 916 polling booths including 458 for men and 458 for females.

Provincial Assembly

The NA-245 constituency consists of two seats of Provincial Assembly: PS-105 and PS-106. Muhammad Yousaf Ansari , a resident of Manzoor Colony says inclusion of Mehmood Abad in PS-106 is not right as the area of Mehmood Abad is at a distance from PECHS and Lines Area, and the public has to cross the big road of Shahrah e Faisal to access utilities.

From PS-105, PTI has awarded ticket to Muhammad Aziz Jiji, MQM-P to Faisal Rafiq, PPP to Zulfiqar Qaim Khani.

From PS-106, Amir Shahzad is a candidate of PML-N, Shahzad Natha of PPP, Jamalud Din Siddiqui of PTI, Muhammad Aslam Ghori of MMA, Muahmmad Zahid of MQM-P, Syed Qamar Akhtar Naqvi of PSP, and Ghulam Hashim of TLP.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 233155 voters are registered in PS-105 including 1290451 male and 109110 female voters. The constituency consists of total 508 polling booths including 254 for men and 254 for females.

The number of registered voters in PS-106 is 205385, including 110848 men and 94537 women. Under the new delimitations, the constituency consists of total 408 polling booths including 204 for men and 204 for females.

Published in Daily Times, July 16^th 2018.