District Returning Officer (DRO) of NA-249, Syed Nadeem Haider announced on Thursday that the election would be held as per the schedule on April 29. In a statement, the district returning officer said that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has made final arrangements for the by-polls on the seat vacated by Senator Faisal Vawda and in the next two days, the ballot papers would be handed over to the election commission. The ECP has prepared the security and transportation plan for the election staff, he added. Commenting on the by-polls, Syed Nadeem Haider said that the by-polls in NA-249 would be held on April 29. The candidates have been once again issued directives regarding strict implementation of the code of conduct. Moreover, the ECP has further issued a notification, directing political parties to wind up all political activity in the constituency 48 hours before the polls and warned that anyone found violating it would be punished with imprisonment. The by-poll in the constituency is scheduled for April 29 and the electioneering in the constituency will culminate at midnight of 27 and 28 April. It is pertinent to mention here that major political parties including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) have asked the ECP to delay the polls in the constituency citing Covid-19 situation and other reasons. Keeping in view the recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the province, the Sindh government on Monday formally requested the ECP to postpone the by-election in National Assembly constituency NA-249 Karachi. In a letter to the ECP, the Sindh government urged the election body to postpone the scheduled by-poll in the concurrency until the coronavirus pandemic was brought under control. The country was facing the third wave of the pandemic and COVID-19 cases rose by over seven per cent in Karachi and Hyderabad during the past week, read the letter. However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail and PSP’s Mustafa Kamal had opposed the postponement of by-elections in letters written to the ECP.