Cantt polls witness massive turnout

The cantonment election in Rawalpindi on Sunday saw a healthy turnout as a rush was witnessed at all polling stations. Inspiring scenes were witnessed at several polling stations as differently-abled and elderly citizens participated in the elections with enthusiasm.

Many elderly voters were brought to the polling stations on wheelchairs by their families. On the other hand, an elderly teacher of ward-10 of FG Boys High School Murir Hasan, Qazi Tariq Mehmood, performed duties on his wheelchair.

In Ward-8 of Chakala Cantonment Board (CCB), the elderly and differentlyabled people faced extreme difficulties as the polling station set-up in FG Girls High School Lalazar was established on the rooftop. An elderly voter, despite all difficulties, was taken to the rooftop on a chair by his family members where he cast the vote.

Moreover, the cantonment elections were conducted peacefully apart from some stray incidents of altercations while the cellular and internet services in the city also remained operational. The elections were held in nine of 10 wards of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB), 10 each of Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) and Wah Cantt Cantonment Board, five of Taxila Cantonment Board (TCB) and two of Murree Cantonment Board (MCB).

The voters started to turn up after 10 pm as Sunday is a holiday and a healthy turnout was witnessed by the end of polling. The security at all polling stations remained strict with Rangers, police, Elite Force and special branch personnel posted in large numbers.

The security at all sensitive polling stations remained extremely tight where additional personnel were deployed. The closedcircuit television (CCTV) cameras were also installed there. A large number of young, old, and differently-abled people cast their votes. A number of people with disabilities (PWDs) were brought on wheelchairs while the young voters were enthusiastic to cast their first vote. Meanwhile, the Rangers personnel barred Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader Barrister Danial from entering the Jhanda Chichi Girls College polling station.

In another incident, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate accused the PML-N candidate of rigging in street-20 of the same constituency. Minor altercations were reported in Ward-10, Ward-6, Ward-5, Ward-3 of RCB and Ward-9 of CCB. Despite a ban, the candidates of all parties had made pick-and-drop arrangements for voters while private vehicles were used for this purpose. Dozens of voters also lodged complaints of transfer of their votes to other wards.

The polling agents of a large number of candidates arrived around 8:30 am although the voting started at 8 am. The gates of all polling stations were closed at sharp 5 pm and only the voters inside were allowed to cast their votes. The counting process began soon after polling was concluded. R e g i o n a l E l e c t i o n Commissioner Nazar Abbas, District Returning Officer Shaheen Ghazal, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali, and police officers visited all polling stations to chec