The Pakistan Peoples Party will be defending its constituency against a new challenger in town, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, in the by-election on PS-43 Sanghar III constituency which will be held today (Tuesday).
The Sindh Assembly's constituency, based on Jam Nawaz Ali taluka of Sanghar district, fell vacant after the demise of PPP MPA Jam Madad Ali Khan on November 13, 2020.
PPP's Nawabzada Jam Shabbir Ali Khan, son of the deceased Khan, will defend his father's seat against PTI's Mushtaq Juenjo, a new entrant in constituency politics, who has won the backing of the Grand Democratic Alliance.
Local sources informed on Monday that the spiritual leader of Hurr Jamaat and chief of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and GDA Pir Pagara Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi have announced their support for Junejo. Traditionally, the constituency has voted for either the PPP or the PML-F.
There is no considerable vote bank of the PTI in PS-43 as observed in previous elections.
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The deceased MPA was elected for five separate tenures from the same area since the 1993 general elections after he succeeded his uncle and former Sindh chief minister Jam Sadiq Ali after his death.
The late Khan had remained affiliated with the PML-F throughout his political career.
He quitted PML-F in 2017 and joined the PPP, winning a by-poll from the same constituency in 2017 and the general elections in 2018.
"The people want to see a change," said Junejo while speaking to the media. "The people want to get rid of these politicians who haven't provided any facilities like schools, hospitals, infrastructure and development."
He contended that voters will reject the PPP candidate in the by-election. The PPP, meanwhile, considers Junejo a novice with little, if any, political support.
The party's local leaders argue that he is unable to win even the smallest ward or union council in the local government election. The PPP candidate was infected by the coronavirus during the election campaign earlier this month.
Jam Shabbir Ali became restricted to home isolation and in his absence, his elder brother, Jam Haider Ali Khan, and younger brothers ran the campaign.
In the last election, the late Khan had secured 44,750 votes against 28,945 votes of GDA's Jam Zulfiqar Ali Khan. Security, covid arrangements Some 157,200 people including 88,034 male and 69,166 female voters are registered in the constituency.
As many as 132 polling stations, including 34 male and female each and 64 combined, have been set up. The law enforcement agencies have declared 37 polling stations as very sensitive and as many as sensitive.
There will be 437 polling booths with 233 for male voter and 204 female voters. SSP Sanghar Usman Ghani Siddiqui informed that 1,700 policemen will be deployed for security duty.
The personnel from Noshehro Feroze and Shaheed Benazirabad districts along with their SSPs besides the Sanghar Police will provide security.
The policemen have already been deployed and were to spend Monday night at the polling stations for a 36-hours-long duty. Sidduqui said that food, masks and sanitizers have been provided to the deployed force.
Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Imranul Hassan Khwaja informed that the Sindh Rangers have also been deployed at the polling stations. He said the standard operating procedures against Covid-19 will also be followed during the polling process
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