Karachi: In the second phase of local body elections in Sindh, polling is going on in 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad.
Despite the demands of the MQM and the letters of the Sindh government, local body elections are being held today in 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad as per the schedule.
The polling for the local body elections started at 8 am which will continue till 5 pm without any break. On Saturday, there was a delay in the distribution of polling materials from the dispatch centers established in all the districts of the city. From here, ballot boxes, ballot paper, ink and other supplies were distributed till evening.
Due to the death of 23 candidates and the election of 6 candidates unopposed in 7 districts of Karachi, polling is being held on 1200 out of 1230 seats of Chairman, Vice Chairman and Ward Member.
410 candidates have been elected unopposed in Hyderabad division and 310 in Thatta division and 27 candidates have died. A total of 17862 candidates are competing against each other out of which 9057 candidates are from Karachi, 6228 from Hyderabad and 2577 from Thatta division.
The number of voters in Karachi is 84 lakh 5 thousand 475, for which 4990 polling stations have been built, of which 3415 are sensitive, 1496 are highly sensitive and 79 have been declared normal, while the 7 districts of Karachi Division have been divided into 25 towns. has gone
District Central is the largest district with 5 town and 45 union committees, where the number of registered votes is 2 million 76 thousand 73. Zilla Sharqi is the second largest district with 5 towns and 43 union committees and 14 lakh 54 thousand 415 voters.
4 town and 37 union committees have been formed in Korangi where there are 14 lakh 52 thousand 722 voters. West District consists of 3 Town and 33 Union Committees where 9 lakh 9 thousand 187 voters are registered. There are 3 towns, 32 union committees in Kemari district where the number of registered voters is 844 thousand 851.
Similarly, Malir district has 3 towns, 30 union committees and 743 thousand 205 voters, while South district has 2 towns, 26 union committees and 995 thousand 54 voters.
According to the data, there are 1040 candidates in Malir, 1450 in Korangi, 1579 in East, 876 in South, 1144 in West, 1781 in Central and 1258 candidates in Kemari district.
CCTV cameras have also been installed at sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations, for monitoring which a control room has also been established.
Political parties could not run an effective election campaign due to the uncertainty in the holding of local government elections, the traditional election campaign remained non-existent, the issue of whether or not the election was held for candidates was constantly discussed with the people, especially the last In three days, the atmosphere of uncertainty was on the rise.
Earlier, the Sindh government had written a letter to the Election Commission today asking that local body elections should be postponed due to non-availability of security forces. The letter said that the Secretary Election Commission also participated in the meeting presided over by the Chief Secretary Sindh, informed the participants of the meeting about the security concerns faced by the political leaders and workers. The federal government has condoned the deployment of army and rangers at the polling stations while the situation demands that the presence of army and rangers should be ensured at the polling stations.
On the letter of the Sindh government, an important meeting of the Election Commission was called in Islamabad, in which, after deliberation, it was decided to hold the second phase of local body elections in Sindh on Sunday, January 15 as per the schedule.
Later, Sindh ministers and officials of PPP also issued a message to the workers and aspirants to end all speculations, in which they were instructed to make full preparations while also appealing to the people to vote.
Late at night Sindh Legal Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab released a video statement in which he confirmed that there will be no ordinance of any kind nor will the elections be postponed. No work is being done on any ordinance draft, all political parties should participate fully in the elections.
