KARACHI:
The unofficial results of by-elections for 28 local government seats across 14 districts of Sindh, including three in Karachi, showed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerging as the front-runner.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has released unofficial results for all 28 seats. According to preliminary figures, candidates from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured victory in 21 seats, while independent candidates and Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) won three and two seats, respectively. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) also secured one seat each.
Polling began at 8 am and ended at 4 pm. Voters’ turnout remained relatively low across several constituencies. Overall polling process reportedly remained peaceful, however, some sporadic incidents of unrest were reported in Karachi.
The by-polls were held for six chairmen, seven vice chairmen, 13 general members and two district council members. About 243,187 voters (133,038 men and 110,154 women) were eligible to cast their ballots at 168 polling stations.
Major political parties, including PPP, JI, TLP, GDA, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), fielded their candidates, while several independents backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were also in the run.
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By-elections in Karachi were held on five seats across East, West and Keamari districts, with 54 candidates in the fray. According to unofficial results, PPP’s Shahroze Ahmed secured the vice chairman seat in UC-8 of Sohrab Goth with 1,790 votes, defeating independent candidate Jaleel Ahmed Mughiri, who got 166 votes.
PPP also won Karachi’s Bhitt Shah Town Committee’s general member seat with 714 votes, while his two independent rivals together managed just four votes.
In Karachi’s Baldia Town UC-8, PPP’s Mohammad Faisal emerged victorious in the race for vice chairman, securing 3,132 votes. Independent candidate Hasnain Ali Chauhan followed with 1,084 votes, while Jamaat-e-Islami’s Yasir Hayat trailed with 796.
In Manghopir’s UC-10, PPP candidate Stephen Masih won the vice chairman seat with 891 votes, while the Awami National Party’s candidate secured 324 votes, according to unofficial results.
PPP’s candidate Shehnila Amir won the chairperson seat in Orangi UC-1 with 3,801 votes. TLP candidate Muhammad Ali secured second place with 1,787 votes, while Jamaat-e-Islami’s Muhammad Khurshid Alam finished third with 1,288 votes.
In Orangi Town’s Ward-4, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mohammad Bilal Naseer narrowly edged out PPP’s Sheikh Azhar by securing 791 votes against 749.
Strong showing in other districts of Sindh
Outside Karachi, PPP maintained its dominance in other parts of Sindh. In Dadu district’s UC-64, the PPP’s candidate won the ward member seat with 554 votes. In the same district, its district council nominee secured a convincing victory with 2,144 votes.
In Mirpurkhas, the PPP candidate for vice chairman in UC-53 polled 3,186 votes, comfortably winning against independent rival who could only secure 540 votes.
In Rohri’s UC-20 in Sukkur, PPP’s candidate triumphed with 2,677 votes, defeating JUI-F’s nominee, who secured 765. In Makki Shah Town, Sukkur, PPP’s Nazir Ahmed won the general member seat with 450 votes.
PPP’s dominance extended to Badin’s Matli UC-5, where its candidate for the seat of chairman polled 2,218 votes. In Khairpur, the party secured two victories, a town committee member seat with 879 votes and the UC-12 chairmanship with 3,708 votes, defeating GDA’s Mukhtiar Ahmed, who received 417.
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Independent candidates also registered wins. In Mirpurkhas’ UC-20, Owais secured 338 votes for the general member seat, leaving TLP’s Mohammad Rafiq behind with 71 votes.
In Thatta’s UC-12, the PPP’s vice chairman candidate emerged victorious with 1,281 votes against independent candidate Waqas Ahmed who got 261 votes.
The ruling party also posted back-to-back wins in Umerkot district, where its candidates dominated the contests for both district council member and union council chairman seats.
For the district council seat in Umerkot, the PPP candidate bagged 4,080 votes, comfortably defeating an independent contender who managed 902 votes.
In UC-19 of the same district, the PPP’s winning streak continued as their candidate secured 4,134 votes in the chairman race. The nearest rival, an independent candidate, received 977 votes.
However, a notable exception to PPP’s performance came in Umerkot’s UC-41, where GDA’s Mohammad Daim secured 1,256 votes, soundly defeating PPP’s Aftab Ali, who received only three votes.
ECP noted that out of 67 scheduled by-elections across Sindh, 33 candidates were elected unopposed. No nominations were filed in two constituencies, while nomination papers of three candidates were rejected. One candidate voluntarily withdrew from the contest.
Polling disruptions
Although the ECP described the process as orderly, minor disturbances broke out in Karachi. Outside polling stations in UC-10 of Manghopir Town and UC-8 of Baldia Town, confrontations between rival political groups escalated into brief scuffles before police intervened to control the situation.
At a polling station in Orangi Town’s UC-1, tensions rose when activists of a religious party alleged irregularities. Senior police officials and additional forces were called in to defuse the tension.
The provincial election commissioner later sought reports from district monitoring and returning officers following complaints of polling delays and alleged misconduct. However, ECP officials dismissed accusations of irregularities, insisting the by-polls were conducted in a largely peaceful atmosphere.
