NA-249 Karachi by-polls today

KARACHI: City is all set to host the much awaited by-election in its NA-249 constituency Thursday (today). NA-249 has a population of 782,776 of which only 339,591, which means over 43%, are registered to vote.

There are 216,056 male voters in the area, while the number of female voters is 137,935. Some well-known areas in the constituency include Delhi Colony, Mujahid Colony, Baldia, and Saeedabad, while the prominent ethnic groups in this working-class neighbourhood comprise Urdu-speaking people, Pashtuns, Kashmiris, and the Seraiki-speaking lot.

Thirty candidates are in the running, including PMLN's Miftah Ismail and Karachi's former mayor Mustafa Kamal. But whoever wins, some of the constituency's unresolved issues remain unaddressed, including the lack of water and poor sewerage systems, broken roads, no government hospital in the area, and drug peddling.

The ECP has ordered strict implementation of coronavirus SOPs during the by-polls in NA-249. Special staff will also be deployed for implementation of coronavirus SOPs. Last month, the ECP had announced the schedule for by-polls in NA-249 after PTI's Faisal Vawda resigned from the National Assembly seat. Vawda had resigned after casting his vote in the Senate elections on March 3. He had won the seat during the 2018 general election after securing 35,344 votes. Fun fact: Did you know Prime Minister Imran Khan chose this constituency to contest elections for the first time in Pakistan in the year 1997? Imran Khan could only secure 2,037 votes from the area which, at that time, was named NA-184.

Since 2008 the constituency has elected a different political party to power in every general poll. In 2008, PPP's Abdul Qadir Patel won with over 56,000 votes. In 2013, MQM's Muhammad Salman Baloch clinched victory with 39,000 votes, while in 2018, Muhammad Faisal Vawda bagged the constituency with over 35,000 votes.