PESHAWAR: Amid stringent security measures, the polling for the second phase of Local government (LG) Elections in 18 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including newly merged tribal regions was conducted largely peacefully.

The polling process started around 8:00 A.M which continued without any break till 5:00 PM. The voters’ turnout remained high as a large number of queues of voters were witnessing outside polling stations and booths.

The polling was held for the posts of mayor and chairman of tehsil and city councils and different categories of members in the village and neighbourhood councils in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas, Swat, Malakand, Shangla, Lower and Upper Dir, Upper and Lower Chitral, Kurram, Orakzai, and North and South Waziristan districts.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the election. Carrying of arms and ammunition inside polling stations was not allowed.

The most sensitive polling stations were monitored through CCTV cameras. The polling process was monitored by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Under supervision of Deputy Director Local Government Elections, Muhammad Nasir Khan and Assistant Director Mustafa Jalal, a control room was setup at the office of Provincial Election Commissioner Peshawar for quick resolution of election related complaints.

A total of 6,176 polling stations were set up for the second phase of the local bodies elections in 18 districts of the province out of which 1,609 polling stations were declared most sensitive. A total of 8.057 million voters were registered in the second phase. More than 54,000 officials were deployed for the security including police and Frontier Constabulary troops.

Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani on Thursday cast his vote at Degree College Nawan Shahar polling station in Abbottabad. Hazara Police deputed 13,000 policemen to maintain law and order during the polling process. DIG Hazara Mirwais Niaz said: “People should remain peaceful on the Election Day.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022