1,500 cops deployed for NA-240 by-polls

KARACHI:

By-elections on for the National Assembly seat of NA-240 constituency in the Korangi area of Karachi will be held today (Thursday).

The election campaign concluded on the midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday with 25 candidates left in the run for the seat left vacant after the demise of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) MNA Iqbal Muhammad Al Khan.

The contestants include Muhammad Abu Bakar of MQM-P, Shahzada Shahbaz of Tehreek Labaik Pakistan, Shabir Ahmed Qaim Khani of PSP, Syed Rafiuddin of Mohajir Qaumi Movement, Nasir Rahim of PPP, Syed Faizan Anis of PML-N, and Tanveer Ahmed of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

Masood Mahmood, Shahid Nawaz, Shaheen Khan, Shayan Ahmed Siddiqui, Arif Aslam, Umair Anjum, Afaq Jamal, Irshad Ahmed, Aminuddin, Eric Mushtaq, Habibullah, Sajid Hussain, Mohammad Akhtar, Mohammad Aslam Raza, Mohammad Sadiq, Mohammad Naeem and Nighat Fatima are present on the ballot paper as independent candidates.

PTI has boycotted the election while Jamaat-e-Islami is also not participating in the election.

The total number of registered voters in this constituency of National Assembly is 529,855 of which 235,470 are female.

Read Over 5,000 nominations for LG polls filed so far

In the 2018 general elections, Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan of MQM-P won NA-240 by getting 61,165 votes while Muhammad Asif of TLP got 30,535 votes and Farrukh Manzoor of PTI got 29,000 votes. 941 votes, Abdul Jameel Khan of MMA got 19,323 votes, Afaq Shafqat of Mohajir Qaumi Movement got 14,376 votes, Muhammad Feroze of PPP got 7,586 votes and Asif Hasnain of PSP got 6,661 votes.

Police have declared 309 polling stations sensitive while of which 203 are highly sensitive and 106 are sensitive. Polling will continue from 8 am to 5pm without any break.

Security plan

More than 1,500 Karachi police officers and personnel will be on security duty during the election while special police contingents have also been formed to deal with any emergency especially at the polling stations declared sensitive and highly sensitive.

Karachi police have formulated a security plan for the by-election to be held on Thursday, June 16 at the National Assembly seat in Constituency 240 (NA-240).

Karachi Police spokesperson told that there are 529,855 registered voters in this constituency. 309 polling stations have been set up in 133 buildings for the by-election.

According to the spokesperson, Sindh Rangers officers and men are also performing security duties for the by-elections while Karachi police along with other law enforcement agencies are taking all possible steps to protect the lives and property of the people.

Rangers’ huddle

Pakistan Rangers Sindh Director General Major General Iftikhar Hassan Chaudhary on Tuesday chaired a high level meeting to review law and order situation in the megalopolis and security arrangements made for By-election in NA-240.

The meeting also discussed the current law and situation of Karachi, security arrangements made so far and intelligence sharing, according to a news release. The participants of the meeting urged upon formulating an integrated strategy to curbs increasing street crimes particularly robberies.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2022.