Electioneering in full swing as PS-114 by-poll nears
Published July 07, 2017
KARACHI: The by-polls in the city’s PS-114 constituency have turned into a do-or-die contest among the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement- Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Campaigning in the constituency is in full swing as the major political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, are holding corner meetings and rallies to mobilise the voters and gain their trust ahead of July 9 by-election.
The constituency comprises the localities of Mehmoodabad No 1 to Mehmoodabad No 6, Chanesar Goth, Manzoor Colony, Akhter Colony, Azam Basti, Kashmir Colony, Defence View and the KAECHS (Karachi Administration Employees Cooperative Housing Society).
The PPP’s Saeed Ghani, MQM-P’s Kamran Tessori and PTI’s Najeeb Haroon are being considered as the main contenders for the contest.
Although the PPP could not become a significant stakeholder in the constituency in the past elections, this time round the party has fielded its secretary general for Karachi, Senator Ghani, in an effort to branch out of its traditional strongholds in Lyari and Malir.
In the May 2013 general elections, PS-114 was bagged by Irfanullah Marwat on a PML-N ticket but his victory was declared void by the election tribunal in July 2014.
On May 11, the Supreme Court dismissed Marwat’s appeal challenging the election tribunal’s decision paving the way for the by-polls.
The by-poll campaign took an interesting turn recently when Marwat announced to support the PTI, which has fielded one of its founding members, Haroon.
In the 2013 polls, PML-N’s Marwat bagged 37,130 votes while MQM’s Rauf Siddiqui got 30,305 votes. Moreover, PTI’s Israr Abbasi got 13,807 votes while PPP’s Sajjad Ahmed Pappi only 3,827 votes.
