In his whirlwind visits to Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana districts on Monday, caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Maqbool Baqar reviewed arrangements for the upcoming polls in all 17 districts of the three divisions.
Accompanied by Information Minister Mohammad Ahmed Shah, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam and Inspector General Police Riffat Mukhtar, Baqar chaired meetings in the three districts and sought feedback of the Election Commission of Pakistan's officers about the arrangements.
There are 12,379,804 voters in 17 districts of the three divisions for whom 9,446 polling stations have been set up. In view of the election-day threats, the Sindh police have declared 2,624 polling stations as highly sensitive and 2,951 as sensitive. Some 28 seats of the National Assembly and 59 of the Sindh Assembly are up for grabs in these divisions.
Hyderabad
The CM observed that Hyderabad being the largest division in the province has 2,397 polling stations which have been classified as 'sensitive'. "We have strengthened you, the administration and the police with equipment, transport and other facilities. Therefore, no untoward incidents should be allowed to happen," the CM emphasized.
Responding to his query, Regional Election Commissioner Hyderabad Azhar Hussain Tanwri expressed satisfaction over the range of arrangements which have been made for the polls.
The Commissioner Hyderabad Khalid Hyder Shah briefed the meeting that the division consisted of nine districts which together have 5,747,277 registered voters including 2,647,345 female voters. There are 13 seats of the National and 28 of the provincial assembly, he added. As many as 195 candidates are contesting on the NA seats and 480 on the PS seats.
Among the 4,431 polling stations in the division, 1,416 have been declared sensitive and 981 as highly sensitive polling stations. Badin district, where an electoral battle is underway between the PPP and the GDA, has the largest number of 246 very sensitive polling stations.
The CM was informed that the CCTV cameras have been installed in the highly sensitive polling stations and that the safe retrieval of the DVRs along with the polling material will also be ensured.
Headed by nine district returning officers (DROs) and 39 ROs, 51,692 polling staff will perform the election duty. Another 164 officials will operate the Election Management System.
Read Security arrangements for election day reviewed
The election materials will be stored in 13 buildings for dispatch and subsequent collection from the polling stations.
Sukkur
For the three districts of Sukkur division, which together have seven seats of the NA and 14 of the PS with 3,040,256 votes, 2,277 polling stations have been established. Among them, Commissioner Waheed Shaikh briefed, 830 have been placed in very sensitive category and 916 in sensitive.
Almost half of the polling stations in Ghotki district, located on the border of Punjab, have been put in the very sensitive class while Sukkur and Khaipur both have 166 each such stations.
The DIG Sukkur Hamid Khoso told the CM that a force of 14,479 cops will be deployed in addition to 1,696 soldiers of the Pak army and 528 personnel of the Rangers.
Larkana
The CM instructed the local authorities to carry out a mock exercise to ensure foolproof retrieval of the election material in the security of the police, rangers and the army.
The division comprises five districts with a total of 3,592,271 votes. There are eight NA and 17 PS seats in the division with 95 candidates contesting for the NA and 236 for PS seats.
The ECP has set up 2,738 polling stations, including 55 improvised ones, declaring 619 as sensitive and 813 as highly sensitive. The CM told that 86 polling stations were identified as rain-affected and required repairs. Another 1,182 polling stations required missing facilities. The CM said Rs319.289 million were released for the repair works.
A total of 16,704 policemen will be deployed in the division's five districts besides 2,552 army soldiers
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