MQM candidate wins in close race as re-polling in PS-128 ends

Competition between Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Muttahida Deeni Mahaz candidates is tough.

KARACHI: Unofficial results from re-polling at six polling stations of PS-128 Karachi constituency showed that the Muttahida Qaumi Movment (MQM) candidate Syed Waqar Hussain Shah edged into pole position with a difference of just 202 votes, Express News reported on Saturday.

Shah secured 23,827 votes, while his opponent, Muttahida Deeni Mahaz’s Aurangzeb Farooqui secured 23,625 votes. The turnout was 45.32 per cent.

Polling could not be held in six polling stations on the day of the general elections 2013 due to a bomb blast. On election candidates’ request the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had decided to hold re-polling at the respective polling stations of the constituency.

Re-polling in the constituency was supervised by the army and police and ranger personnel were also deployed.

There are total 72 polling stations the constituency

Polling started at 8am and continued till 5pm without break though there was a dismal turnout for the re-polling.

The officials of election commission claimed to have recorded good turnout in the polls, but ground realities seemed otherwise.  “Around 50 to 55 per cent turn out has been witnessed in the election, which were held in peaceful manner,” provincial election commission SM Tariq Qadri said.

But according to one of the presiding officers, the turnout was low. “Out of 9547 votes registered in the six polling stations only 3000 votes have been polled to both the candidates. This shows record low turnout.”

“It looked curfew like situation in Rizia Market, Dawood Chali, Tauheedabad area in the constituency where police, Rangers and paramilitary forces did not allow people to gather in groups and sit in the streets,” Hameeduallah Khan, resident of the area said.

A 13-member team of the ECP is performing its duties at all the stations.

The real competition in PS-128 is between Muttahida Qaumi Movement candidate Syed Waqar Hussain Shah and Muttahida Deeni Mahaz’s Aurangzeb Farooqui.