Daily Times

KARACHI: The by-election on Sindh Assembly’s seat PS-127 held in Karachi on Thursday with incidents of violence during polling, at least two people were injured and nine were arrested.

According to the unofficial results, PPP’s candidate Ghulam Murtaza Baloch is leading till the filling of this story. MQM’s Waseem Ahmed was on second and PTI’s Nadeem Memon stood at the third place.

The seat was vacated after MPA Ashfaq Mandi of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) resigned to join Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) of Mustafa Kamal.

At least 21 candidates had contested for PS-127 seat. There were 207,467 registered voters in the constituency for which 134 polling stations were set up. Reportedly more than 100 polling stations were declared sensitive.

Turnout of voters remained very low and multiple incidents of violence were reported in the by-elections. Unidentified persons opened fired outside a polling booth at Khokrapar injuring two people. Rangers reached the spot to control the situation and the injured were shifted to the hospital, rescue sources said.

An MQM camp at Malir Jaffar Tayyar Ghazi Chowk was ransacked by opposition party workers, MQM leaders alleged. An enraged mob beat up a man, who the police later detained in injured condition.

Workers of the MQM- Pakistan and Mohajir Qaumi Movemnt- Haqiqi clashed at Urdu Nagar. Rangers reached the spot to control the situation. Police detained six people after the clash, while three people have been detained in the jurisdiction of Korangi district.

In the Saudabad area, a worker in a political party left his motorcycle and fled when police tried to stop him. Police officials said they have also seized 13 motorcycles. There were also reports of a power outage in polling station 134 since the previous night.

A woman was arrested from Murad Memon Goth polling station casting fake votes, according to Rangers. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has accused the Pakistan People’s Party of rigging the elections.

MQM Pakistan leader Farooq Sattar visited the polling stations and said that during the entire day MQM workers were tortured, but he hoped that even then the MQM candidate will win. He had earlier visited PS-127 and said his party had the option to boycott the election but he did not opt it. He added that the passion of party workers despite rigging was great.

DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar visited Qamar Bani Hashmi polling station. He evaluated security arrangements on polling stations in the constituency.

The Sindh government had declared September 8 as a holiday in the constituency of PS-127 Karachi to facilitate voters in casting their votes in the by-election. This was the first election in Karachi after MQM Pakistan has disassociated itself from its founder following anti-Pakistan remarks and attacks on media the houses.