In NA-237, the real battle is for the urban areas

With the PPP comfortably positioned in goths, opponents are focusing their efforts on urban developments

KARACHI: A constituency divided into goths on the one hand and urban areas on the other, NA-237 includes Malir Cantt, Karachi Airport, Faisal Cantonment Board, Murad Memon sub-division, Ibrahim Hyderi sub-division and other areas.

A densely populated area with people from different religions and sects, most residents of this constituency speak Sindhi, Pashto or Urdu.

NA-237 includes different areas of PS-88, PS-89 and PS-90. The areas now falling under NA-237 have been carved out what were formerly parts of NA-257 and NA-258.

The source of income for the majority of the people in this constituency includes government and private jobs. Similar to its neighbouring constituency, NA-237 is faced with acute water shortage and lack of education, health and infrastructure facilities.

With respect to previous elections in these areas, the 2002, 2008 and 2013 general elections for NA-257 were won by Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Muhammad Shamim Siddiqui, Sajid Ahmed and then again by Sajid Ahmed, respectively. Pakistan Peoples Party's Sher Muhammad Baloch was elected from NA-258 in the 2002 and 2008 elections while the seat went to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's Abdul Hakeem Baloch in 2013, who joined the PPP after resigning from the seat. Later, Baloch contested the elections on aPPP ticket and won the by-election from this constituency.



The PPP has again allotted the NA-237 ticket to Baloch, based on his influence in the area. In the current political climate, the PPP is slated to secure a comfortable majority from the Goths included in NA 237.

One major aspect of politics in this constituency is that it is based on nationality. After the fresh delimitations and the split of the MQM, various political parties including Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pak Sarzameen Party, MQM-Haqiqi, Awami National Party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are actively campaigning in the areas to fill the void and obtain the mandate. There is likely to be stiff competition between the PPP, PTI, MMA and MQM-P candidates for NA 237.

With the PPP poised to receive the majority of the votes from the goths and the vote bank in the urban areas divided, the party is in the strongest position to clinch the seat. The party's position appears even sturdier in PS-88 and PS-90, where its closest opponents will be the MQM-Pakistan, PTI and MMA. PS-89 is home to various ethnic groups and religious parties also have a significant vote bank.

The candidates of all the major political and religious parties as well as those contesting the polls independently have kicked off their campaign in the areas. However, due to the strict code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the traditional fervor in the election campaign seems to be missing.

In spite of all these predictions by political pundits, the results from this constituency could well be surprising. All of the candidates seem confident of victory and claim to hold the key to resolving the issues of its residents. However, voters do not seem too interested in the rhetoric for now, at least.