Voting underway during PS-11 Larkana-II by-election today

LARKANA: Voting process has commenced for the by-elections being held in PS-11 Larkana-II at 8:00 am morning today which will be continued till 5:00 pm without any break.

A tight electoral contest is expected between two candidates including Pakistan People’s Party’s Jameel Ahmed Soomro, who is political secretary of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

The joint candidate of GDA and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi, told media that he is confident for his victory in the by-polls as the people of Larkana are well-aware of the corrupt practices of the PPP leaders. He said that the PPP leaders are deprived of morality by taking part in the by-election after destroying the Larkana city.

While talking to media, PPP candidate Jameel Ahmed Soomro confirmed that the polling is continued in a good environment and expressed his hopes that the electoral process will be made in a transparent and peaceful manner. Soomro, however, said that he has received a complaint from some polling stations for the absence of women police officials.

The seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court declared the Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Moazim Ali Khan Abbasi over failing to declare his assets following a petition filed moved by PPP’s Nida Khuhro.

It is pertinent to mention here that the GDA leader had won the polls in the PS-11 Larkana-II constituency during 2018’s general elections after defeating the daughter of President PPP Sindh PPP Nisar Khuhro, Nida Khuhro, after her father was declared disqualified over the petition of Moazzam Ali Khan Abbasi that challenged his nomination papers.

According to an official of the Election Commission of Pakistan, overall 11 candidates are contesting in the by-polls where 9 out of 11 are contesting as independent candidates.

The commission set up 138 polling stations in the constituency of 152,614 registered voters including 83,106 male and 69,598 female voters. 20 out of 138 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive, whereas, 50 were declared as sensitive by the election authorities.

More than 4,000 personnel of Pakistan Army, Rangers and police forces will perform security duties during the by-elections.