LARKANA: Voters are going to exercise their right to franchise on Thursday in a by-election for PS-35 Larkana-I.

The seat had fallen vacant after the late Haji Altaf Hussain was disqualified under a ruling passed by the Sukkur election tribunal on Feb 26, 2014.

The Election Commission of Pakistan denotified Mr Unnar’s membership of the provincial assembly on March 5, 2014.

In the election, the PPP awarded the ticket to Mr Unnar when he joined the party after Agha Siraj Durrani conveyed to him Asif Ali Zardari’s message. But the party leadership grew a bit angry when the late Unnar declined to say ‘yes’ to the party’s instruction to persuade his son and nephew to withdraw their candidature. His refusal prompted the party to throw its weight behind Sohail Anwer Siyal and with overt or covert support endorsed his candidature on the same seat where it had earlier given ticket to Mr Unnar.

Despite tough opposition, the late Altaf Unnar fought under the symbol of arrow and defeated Sohail. Here Mr Unnar’s ‘influence’ was counted high which translated into his victory, though the PPP tried its best to get him defeated.

Haji Altaf Unnar was unseated through an application filed with the election tribunal by Mr Siyal, who is now in the run.

But the hurt family of Mr Unnar is almost silent in this election. Definitely their voters would stay silent as is practised in this society where landlords and influential wield unseen powers within their respective constituencies. This ‘silent vote’ may cause a dent in the PPP vote bank which in the past had a blend of Mr Unnar’s supporters.

The voters’ trend of going for the ruling party could not be ruled out. Also, they have not forgotten the heavy celebratory firing by the Siyals in Larkana on Mr Unnar’s disqualification.

Sources say that Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj had advised the heirs of the late Altaf Unnar to accept the party decision and stay silent.

A direct fight is expected between PPP’s Sohail Anwer Siyal and independent candidate Shafqat Hussain Unnar. The electioneering picked up momentum as both candidates have augmented their efforts to muster bigger support within the small space left for polling.

MNA Ayaz Soomro, who is also president of Larkana district PPP, and other office bearers are using their influence and contacts to gain bigger support for an easy win. A few days ago, Babu Serwar Siyal of the PML-Q stepped down in favour of Mr Siyal in a public meeting held in Mud Baho village while Hafiz Ahmed Ali Abbasi of the JUP on April 20 retired in his favour when Ayaz Soomro and others visited him.

The PPP’s support grew stronger when former President Asif Ali Zardari while addressing the April 4 event in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto held the hand of Mr Siyal high and said “vote for this gentleman, who is the sincere worker of the PPP, in the by-election on PS-35 Larkana-I”.

When Mr Siyal is striving hard to win this seat, the visible division in the Unnar family in three factions may also turn in his favour. Dado Allah Bakhsh Unnar who stands by the PPP’s candidate is openly opposing the candidature of Shafqat Hussain Unnar, though the latter is his close relative. Therefore, his area of influence may help Mr Siyal.

It’s a matter of fact that former PPP MPA Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi and his son Moazzim Ali Abbasi have lent support to Shafqat Hussain Unnar and are openly in the field.

The sources said Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi had talked to Syed Akbar Shah Rashdi, divisional president of the PML-F, to gain his support for Shafqat Unnar.

Officially, there are 14 candidates in the run but the fight is expected between Sohial Anwer Siyal of the PPP and Shafqat Hussain Unnar, who is contesting the by-election as an independent candidate.

This is a panoramic view of the by-elections on PS-35 Larkana-I where PPP has, at present, an edge over the independent candidate but some quarters believe that election is an unpredictable game.