KARACHI - The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won by-election in Karachi’s NA-245 constituency on Sunday with a convincing margin.
According to unofficial results, PTI’s Mahmood Baqi Moulvi secured 29,475 votes, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Moeed Anwar bagged 13,193 votes while Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) Muhammad Ahmed Raza was 3rd with 9,836 votes.
Meanwhile, Dr Farooq Sattar as an independent candidate gained 3,479 votes while the Pak Sarzameen Party’s (PSP) Syed Hafeezuddin mustered 1,177 votes. The turnout remained low with only 11.8 percent voters cast their vote. Citizens cast their vote to pick their representative for the seat that was vacated by PTI’s late Aamir Liaquat Hussain.
The process, which began at 8am this morning and continued till 5pm, saw low turnout initially. Footage broadcast on television showed election officials sitting in a relatively barren polling station.
However, as the day progressed, some citizens could be seen at election camp offices getting information. Polling was extended for one more hour for polling stations 143 and 144. A limited number of people were seen turning up for voting with police and security personnel outnumbering voters.
However, Provincial Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chauhan insisted that people were participating in the election process in “large numbers”. Chauhan was visiting various polling stations with Sindh Chief Secretary Muhammad Sohail Rajput and Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon.
Rajput said the polling process was underway in a transparent manner and the government had ensured all arrangements, adding that “sensitive” polling stations were under surveillance.
The by-election on the seat, which fell vacant after Aamir Liaquat’s sudden death in June, was originally scheduled to be held on July 27, but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had to postpone it amid torrential rains.
Aamir Liaquat was elected on a PTI ticket in the 2018 general elections, defeating Farooq Sattar of the MQM-P by securing 56,673 votes against his 35,429 votes.
As polling was underway, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry urged the people of the metropolitan city to vote in the party’s favour. “Today, Karachi will stand with the truth, with democracy and true freedom,” he said.
