KARACHI: A man was killed and several others wounded in firing incident as violence marred the NA-240 by-election.
The voting for the NA-240 by-election in Karachi ended at 5 pm while the vote counte is underway. The constituency also witnessed violence during the day, with members of political parties clashing with polling officials.
Firing incidents also took place at six different points in the constituency.
The polling began at 8am and continued uninterrupted till 5pm but the the turnout was 5% till 3 pm during polling because the majority of the voters were unable to cast their votes due to the working day.
Unofficial results
According to unofficial results of 83 polling stations out of 309, Muhammad Abu Bakr of MQM-Pakistan leading with 2729 votes, Prince Shahbaz of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) is on second position with 2703 while Rafi-ud-Din Faisal of Mohajir Qaumi Movement with 2395 votes is on third position.
One person dead as voilence erupts
The director of Jinnah Hospital Shahid Rasoool has confirmed that one person was killed during a by-election riot and the deceased was identified as Saifuddin.
He further said that so far 4 injured have been brought from different areas of Landhi.
PSP leader Anis Kaimkhani’s car shot
The vehicle of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Anis Kaimkhani was fired upon in the city’s Korangi area amid the by-election for a National Assembly constituency.
Fortunately, the PSP leader was not in the car when the firing incident took place. The police mobile moving along with Kaimkhani was also fired upon.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident of firing and violence in NA-240 constituency of Karachi.
The Sindh Chief Minister directed the Inspector General not to allow anyone to take the law into his own hands and to keep the election environment peaceful.
Syed Murad Ali Shah has also appealed to all the political parties participating in the elections to remain peaceful and said that we are political people, we should remain peaceful and show responsibility.
Total number of voters
There are 529,853 registered voters in the constituency who will exercise their right of vote today. The number of female voters in the constituency is 235,470 while the number of male voters is 294,385.
The National Assembly seat comprising Landhi and Korangi area of District Korangi in Karachi had fallen vacant after the death of the MQM-P MNA Deputy Iqbal Muhammad on April 19.
Polling stations
The ECP had declared 203 polling stations in the constituency ‘very sensitive’ out of 309 polling stations while the remaining 106 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’.
At least 25 candidates are contesting the by-election in NA-240 out of which 18 are independents. A close contest is expected between MQM-P, TLP, PSP, PPP and Mohajir Qaumi Movement.
Read more: NA-240 by-elections polling underway
