Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) trounced the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the erstwhile comrades from break-away factions in the by-election to Sindh Assembly from PS-94 (Korangi-III) constituency, here on Sunday. Syed Hashim Raza, the contestant from MQM-P secured 21,537 votes whereas the close rival contender was PTI's Muhammad Ashraf Jabbar Qureshi who was polled 8,970 votes.
It was no surprise that PPP's Javed Shaikh got meagre share from voters but news had it the candidates fielded by veteran Afaq Ahmed's Muhajir Qaumi Movement and Mustafa Kamal's Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) also failed to make waves. They originally affiliated with MQM even though they too originated from the MQM and had been asserting them as substantial alternate to the MQM for Karachiites.
The party now led by it convenor Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, much junior to Afaq Ahmed, still made its presence felt amid latest war of words from another erstwhile veteran Farooq Sattar. The votes polled to the both Afaq's and Kamal's parties could not enable them to surpass the PTI that means even Farooq Sattar's parting could not emasculate the Bahadurabad-based MQM-P.
The provincial legislature seat from PS-94 fell vacant on November 27, 2018 when MQM-P's Muhammad Wajahat died of protracted illness. He was elected MPA from the constituency in the July 25 general election wherein he got 32,729 votes. Then, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan's candidate Muhammad Shoaibur Rehman was the close rival contestant who bagged 14,030 votes.
The huge difference between the votes of winner and losers showed that the political analysts who expected three-way tough fray among MQM-Pakistan's Syed Hashim Raza, PTI's Muhammad Ashraf Qureshi and PSP's Muhammad Irfan Waheed were wrong. However, 18 percent voters' turnout was not an encouraging sign.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the number of registered voters in the constituency is 246,449, of which 136,808 are male voters and 109, 641 female votes. Polling began at 8 a.m. and continued until 5 p.m. without any break. Over a dozen candidates were in the run for the provincial seat.
As many as 149 polling stations were set up. All polling stations were declared sensitive as the city police deployed some 1,200 personnel for security purposes. Besides, CCTV cameras were also installed at all polling stations. Rangers were deployed in and outside the polling stations. Pak Army stood alert as quick response force to support the paramilitary force. No untoward incident was reported during the process.
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