The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday directed Arshad Vohra to submit a reply to a petition filed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) asking him to step down as Karachi's deputy mayor, DawnNews reported.

Vohra left the Dr Farooq Sattar-led MQM-P in October to join the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).

The petition demands Vohra step down as deputy mayor "since he is not a part of MQM-P anymore".

Farooq Sattar, his lawyer Iqbal Qadri and Advocate Hafizuddin — representing Vohra — appeared before the ECP on Thursday.

The hearing, however, could not proceed as Vohra's lawyer had not received a copy of the petition filed against him.

The ECP ordered the MQM-P to send a copy of the petition to Vohra and adjourned the hearing until December 26.

Talking to the media outside the court, Sattar demanded that Vohra step down as deputy mayor because he won the seat from an MQM-P ticket and later "changed loyalties" when he joined the PSP in October.

The MQM-P has filed the application under Section 36 of the Local Government Act 2013 against Vohra, Sattar said.

MQM-P has also filed references against two MNAs and nine MPAs who defected from the party. References have been filed against MNAs Asif Hasnain and Salman Baloch and MPAs from the Sindh Assembly Irum Azeem Farooqi, Sheikh Abdullah, Khalid bin Wilayat, Dilawar Khan and five others who recently broke away from the party.

Vohra, who is being treated by the Federal Investigation Agency as a suspect in a money laundering investigation against MQM founder Altaf Hussain and others, had claimed that his switching sides had nothing to do with either the money laundering case or some pressure.

While announcing his decision, Vohra had said that he did not want to criticise his former party but still stating that the "MQM-P had no vision and it had failed to fulfil its promises it had made with the people of Karachi".

The party could have served the people of Karachi far better during the past one year, but its leadership did nothing, he had claimed.

Vohra, who is a PhD and a well-known industrialist, was full of praise for former Karachi mayor and PSP chairman Mustafa Kamal, saying that the he had worked for Karachi and the incumbents should have followed him and fulfilled their responsibilities.