KARACHI: The Election Commission has set up 300 polling stations for the by-elections scheduled for Nov 24 in the National Assembly constituency NA-258 comprising Gadap and Malir areas of Karachi.

The seat had fallen vacant with the resignation of Abdul Hakeem Baloch, who was elected in the general elections of 2013 on a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ticket.

While talking to the media, Sindh Provincial Election Commissioner Tanveer Zaki said final touches were being given to the arrangement to hold free and fair elections in NA-258, which is the largest constituency comprising rural areas in Karachi.

He said the presiding officer had been given powers of first class magistrate to maintain law and order during the polling and carry out necessary action against those elements found indulging in unlawful activities.

In the constituency, there are 14 candidates in the run. Abdul Hakeem Baloch is this time PPP candidate, as the PML-N has not fielded any candidate, while Mohammad Hanif Bangash and Mumtaz Ali Imrani have been nominated by the PTI and the MQM, respectively. In response to a question, the provincial election cmmissioner said around 1,000 polling booths were being set up to facilitate voting.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2016