KARACHI, May 11: District west did not see much political activism even on polling day as random bomb and grenade attacks coupled with rigging allegation by contesting parties led to their boycott of polls and left the ethnic divide to control the polling trend with expectations of traditional results on four National Assembly and nine Sindh assembly seats.

The district comprising Manghopir, Orangi Town, Baldia Town, a few blocks of North Nazimabad, and parts of Keamari and Saddar was found under immense fear where a polling station came under a hand grenade attack, a bomb was blown up and a roadside camp of a contesting party was attacked leaving at least one dead and over half a dozen others injured.

No effective security measure was seen in any part of the district, while political activists were seen frequenting some polling stations, assisting their agents and communicating with the voters without any check.

“We have 1,600 votes in this polling station,” said Ashraf Khan, a polling staff at Al-Faiz Academy in Orangi Town’s Sector 11 ½ of NA-240 and PS-94. At around 3pm, he said, a ‘majority of votes’ had been cast. Asked about visibly low turnout, he said the people preferred casting votes in first half of the day.

Active polling was seen in Frontier Colony, where a number of people lined up in a narrow street that housed three-room government school primary near Banaras Chowk. Though dominated by Awami National Party, where its senior leader Bashir Jan was contesting PS-93 seat, a large number of seminary students were also seen sitting at a JUI (Fazl) camp.

All businesses remained closed in entire Orangi and Site towns with no public transport on deserted roads. Army troops were seen moving on main Shahrah-i-Orangi but hardly any movement was seen in the narrow streets of the town where most polling stations were situated.

Frequent gunfire in Qasba Colony and neighbourhoods along the prominent Kati Pahari convinced people to stay indoors, but surprisingly it hardly affected the turnout. In Orangi Town most polling stations were manned by a policeman or two with only a few ones where Rangers soldiers were also deployed.

Parts of Baldia Town and Shershah were not much different. Least security checks, ineffective presence of law-enforcement agencies, delayed start of polling and rigging allegations by workers of rival parties put a question mark on the process.Contrary to other parts of the districts, life remained normal in Keamari that hosts NA-239. Businesses were open and transport was also seen on roads. Only Pakistan People’s Party workers were seen active at a majority of the polling stations.