KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday increased the number of union committees (UCs) in Karachi by 53.

There were already 246 UCs in Karachi and the number has now increased to 299.

A notification to this effect was issued by the provincial local government. It said that the increase will apply to “future” local government elections.

It may be noted that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan had also demanded the increase in the number of UCs in Karachi division and changes to the local government system. The party boycotted the LG polls held on Jan 15 in Karachi and Hyderabad as its demands were not met by the provincial government.

The Pakistan People Party and Jamaat-i-Islami emerged as the two largest parties in the local government elections and are vying for the post of city mayor.

City chief of JI Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman in a tweet criticised the provincial government’s decision to increase the number of UCs in Karachi and said that 53 UCs were increased to give face-saving to the MQM-P.

“Do not fool the people of Karachi,” Hafiz Naeem said, adding that after the new census, the number of all national, provincial and local government constituencies would be re-determined following the delimitation process.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2023