Siraj Durrani's son bags PS-9 seat with thumping majority

Vote count puts PPP candidate miles ahead of opponent

HYDERABAD:

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) appeared to be retaining its electoral supremacy in PS-9 constituency by-polls in Shikarpur district on Sunday as early and unofficial results suggested PPP's candidate leading his opponent by a thumping margin.

The seat had fallen vacant on the death of PPP stalwart and former Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani. His son, Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani, was contesting for the seat on PPP ticket.

The unofficial count of the total of 178 polling stations put the number of votes bagged by the PPP's Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani at 73,954.

His opponent from Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Syed Rushdullah Shah was polled 9,412 votes in the same polling stations.

Although nine candidates landed in the electoral fray, somewhat serious combat was expected between Durrani and Shah.

Victory celebrations started at the election camp of Durrani early Sunday evening. Announcements were made in the camp that Shah has even been defeated by Durrani.

As many as 277,792 people were registered to vote in the PS-9 Shikarpur III seat which spreads to Garhi Yaseen, Madeji and Dakhan areas. They include 148,310 male and 129,482 female voters.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had set up 80 combined polling stations and 49 each for men and women. Among these 54 were declared very sensitive and another 84 as sensitive. Over 3,000 policemen, headed by SSPs of Larkana police range, were deployed for security of the polling stations.

Durrani in a celebratory note thanked the constituency's voters for once again deposing their trust on the PPP and his family.

Shah, meanwhile, blamed the local authorities for conniving with the PPP's candidate and his supporters to rig the elections. He also blamed the opponent for the disappearance of his two polling agents from polling station Tarai.