The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has awarded the by-election ticket for Karachi’s NA-246 constituency to Nabeel Gabol, which falls in Lyari – an area the party is trying to take back in its control following the defeat in 2018.
In a statement, the PPP said it has also awarded the ticket for NA-237, Malir, to Abdul Hakeem Baloch. The PPP women’s department central president Faryal Talpur awarded party tickets to both candidates in a meeting at the Zardari House in Karachi on Wednesday, the statement said.
Faryal Talpur said the party would take back its “snatched seats” as both the constituencies of Lyari and Malir were theirs. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Minister for Labour and Human Resource Saeed Ghani, Special Assistant to CM on Political Affairs Waqar Mehdi, Sindh Minister for Local Governments Nasir Hussain Shah, and others attended the meeting.
The election on the constituencies is taking place after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified 11 PTI lawmakers – nine on general seats and two on reserved seats – following their resignations. Both the PPP candidates will go against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan during the by-elections as the former prime minister has decided to contest the polls on nine constituencies.