Things became unpleasant at the general body meeting that was held before the elections. Election Commissioner Dr Saifur Rehman said that Karachi DCO and Arts Council President Fazlur Rehman is ill and the deputy president, Aijaz Farooqui, should chair instead.
Members of the Hashmi panel protested, saying that Farooqui is contesting the elections. The opposing panel members started shouting slogans against their rivals, forcing the commissioner to summon the police and Rangers.
Ahmed Shah has remained undefeated for many elections while his rival Najmuddin Sheikh is also a strong candidate for the position of honorary secretary.
The polling started at about 2pm and lasted till 10pm. It has been a tradition of the ACP to announce elections results the following day. Both panels had launched strenuous campaign months before election day.
The contestants had filed their nomination papers on Thursday, December 9 at 5pm. Scrutiny was performed on Friday and the candidates were allowed to withdraw nominations by December 11.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2010.
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