UC by-polls held peacefully in Sindh

By-elections on vacant seats of local bodies were held in different parts of Sindh province in a peaceful manner on Sunday.
Polling on 96 vacant seats of Nazims, Naib Nazims, general councillors, peasants, workers and minorities in different Union Councils of Hyderabad, Badin, Dadu and Thatta districts concluded in a peaceful atmosphere at over 871 polling stations.
Polling started at 8am and continued without any break till 5pm, said a spokesman of Election Commission's Office of Hyderabad Division. As many as 339 male and female candidates were contesting the by-election on 96 different vacant seats.
Soon after the conclusion of polling time, the polling staff started counting of polled votes.
Out of 339 candidates, 127 contested by-elections for 39 different vacant seats in Hyderabad district, 46 candidates for six vacant seats in Badin district, 117 candidates for 34 different vacant seats in Dadu district and 49 candidates contested by-election for 17 different vacant seats in Thatta district.
According to the break-up, for 10 vacant seats of Nazims, a total of 46 candidates contested by-elections, of them there were 20 candidates for four vacant seats in Hyderabad district, 10 candidates for two seats in Badin district, nine candidates for two seats in Dadu district and seven candidates contested election on two vacant seats of Nazim in Thatta district.
For six vacant seats of Naib Nazims, a total of 16 candidates contested by-elections, of them, two candidates for one seat in Hyderabad district, eight candidates for three seats in Dadu district and six candidates for two vacant seats in Thatta district.
For 21 vacant seats of Muslim (General) for male, a total of 99 candidates contested the by-elections. Of them, 38 for eight vacant seats in Hyderabad district, six for one seat in Badin district, 41 for nine vacant seats in Dadu district and 14 candidates contested by-elections for three vacant seats in Thatta district.
For 20 vacant seats of Muslims (General) for female, 53 candidates were in the field, of them 21 candidates contested by-election for seven seats in Hyderabad district, four candidates for two seats in Badin district, 15 candidates for five seats in Dadu district and 13 candidates contested by-elections for six vacant seats in Thatta district.
For 12 vacant seats of Peasants/Workers (male), 39 candidates contested by-elections, of them 16 for five seats in Hyderabad district, 18 for five seats in Dadu district and five candidates for two vacant seats in Thatta district.
For 23 vacant seats of Peasants/Workers (female), 52 candidates contested by-elections, of them 25 for 12 seats in Hyderabad district, two for one seat in Badin district, 19 candidates for eight seats in Dadu district and eight candidates contested by-elections for two vacant seats in Thatta district.
For four vacant seats of Minority, 12 candidates contested elections in Hyderabad and Dadu districts, of them five candidates contested for two seats in Hyderabad and seven candidates contested the by-elections for two seats in Dadu district. In Nawabshah, voters took keen interest in voting and long queues were witnessed at some polling stations.
Only minor incidents of clashes were reported from some polling stations in the district.
Local leaders and workers of Awam Dost Group, Awami Ittehad Group and Haq Parast Group were seen helping voters to cast their votes at respective polling stations.
A strong contest was witnessed at polling station of Union Council Chanesar-I and Union Council Hassan Jamali seats.
By-elections to local bodies in Thatta were held in a peaceful manner and no untoward incident was reported from any polling station.
Polling was conducted for 31 vacant seats including 3 seats of Union Council Nazims, two UC Naib Nazim and rest councillors of various tiers including ladies and minorities. In Mirpurkhas, 41 candidates contested by-elections for 14 vacant seats.
The voters exercised their right of vote in a peaceful atmosphere at 103 polling stations. No untoward incident was reported from any polling station of the district.
The provincial election commission and the district administration made good arrangements for holding the elections.