By surveys. Photo: AFP
HYDERABAD:
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) appeared to be retaining its electoral supremacy in the PS-9 bypolls in Shikarpur district on Sunday as early unofficial results suggested that the PPP candidate was leading his opponent by a landslide margin.
The seat fell vacant following the death of PPP stalwart and former Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani. His son, Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani, was vying for the PPP ticket seat.
The unofficial count of the total 178 polling stations puts the number of votes polled by PPP’s Agha Shahbaz Khan Durrani at 73,954.
His Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) opponent Syed Rushdullah Shah secured 9,412 votes in the same polling stations.
Although nine candidates participated in the electoral contest, a somewhat serious fight was expected between Durrani and Shah.
Victory celebrations began at the Durrani election camp on Sunday afternoon. Announcements were made in the camp that Shah had even been defeated by Durrani.
As many as 277,792 people were registered to vote in PS-9 Shikarpur III seat, which extends to Garhi Yaseen, Madeji and Dakhan areas. They include 148,310 men and 129,482 women voters.
The Election Commission of Pakistan had created 80 combined polling stations, 49 for men and 49 for women. Of them, 54 were declared very sensitive and another 84 as sensitive. More than 3,000 police officers, led by the SSPs of Larkana police range, were deployed for the security of the polling stations.
Durrani, in a celebratory note, thanked the voters of the constituency for once again reposing their trust in the PPP and his family.
Meanwhile, Shah blamed local authorities for colluding with the PPP candidate and his supporters to rig the elections. He also blamed the opponent for the disappearance of his two polling agents from the Tarai polling station.
