KARACHI, Oct 10: The national assembly constituencies NA-254 and NA-255, comprising Landhi and Korangi areas, witnessed a peaceful polling, but there was a low turn-out owing to scorching heat and because of discrepancies in the voters’ lists.
A number of people, who reached the polling stations, became frustrated when they came to know that their names were not included in the lists.
Many people said due to errors in their names in the voters’ lists, they were not allowed to cast their votes.
A number of people said they had caste votes in the previous elections, but this time they had been denied their right to vote in favour of a candidate of their choice and this could be a deliberate attempt on the part of the concerned officials.
“I live in Landhi-5, and I came out of my home in this hot weather, but when I reached the polling stations, I came to know that my and my wife’s names do not appear in the lists,” said Zafar Rehman, a dejected voter, outside the Landhi 5-1/2 polling station, adding in the previous general elections, he had exercised his right of franchise.
Another frustrated voter Arshad Iqbal alleged that defective lists were prepared to keep themselves away from the polling process.
At the election camps in Korangi No 2-1/2 near a polling station, the representatives of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party had similar complaints.
They said a number of people had to return disappointed owing to errors in their names, or there were no names at all in the lists.
“This can be one of the factors of the low turn-out in the elections as people are perturbed over errors in the lists”, said a representative of a political party.
“I exercised my right to vote in the previous elections, but my name was not included in the list while the names of my two nephews, who have turned 18 in this elections, are going to cast their votes”, said Mohammad Saleem.
The presiding officers at various polling stations maintained that the number of polling stations had been increased this time, so there were no long queues of voters.
They said they have received no complaints about errors in the identity or addresses. Those who were coming to the polling booths were exercising their votes freely and in a peaceful manner.
The polling at some polling stations could not begin at the specified time due to absence of polling agents.
A presiding officer in a Landhi polling station said the polling started about half an hour late as the ballot box was shown empty to the polling agents of the contesting parties.
“In their absence, we have to wait for them and when they turn up, we showed them the ballot boxes and sealed them off”, a presiding officer said.
The MMA alleged that the location of two polling stations was changed overnight which irritated the voters. The people at Bhitai Colony were shocked when they learnt that their polling stations were moved to another location and they faced problems in finding the polling station concerned.
The shops and markets remained closed on the polling day and public transport was off the road. However, some rickshaws and taxis remained plying on Korangi and Landhi roads. However, private vehicles were plying the roads.
No unusual enthusiasm was not witnessed in these polls as compared to the previous elections.
A thin number private vehicles, carrying posters of different political parties, were seen transporting their voters from their homes to the polling stations and vice versa.
Some scuffles were also reported in some polling stations, but the overall law and order situation remained under control. The police and rangers continued to patrol the areas to maintain a peaceful atmosphere for polling.
