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KARACHI, Feb 18: Unlike other parts of the city, polling day in the former District West was filled with enthusiasm and concerns, forcing the candidates, their supporters and election officials to stay on their toes.
It was not one-way traffic for any of the political parties, right from the waters of Keamari to the hills of Orangi Town.
Voters interviewed by Dawn on Monday expressed the view that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a party that had been sweeping the elections in the past in the city, also had its work cut out. To see an increase in the voters’ turnout remained a serious issue on the party’s agenda so that it could show the world that it was not a party that enjoyed the mandate given by only 28 to 35 per cent of Karachiites.
In the former District West, the MQM faced opponents coming from different backgrounds. Overall, Keamari, Site, Shershah, Pak Colony, Mewashah, Baldia, Saeedabad, Pathan Colony, Frontier Colony, Faqir Colony, Tauheed Colony, and Orangi saw a mixed trend among voters and immense enthusiasm for the MQM, PPP, ANP, JUI and PML-N.
Outside a polling station established at the Hatim Alavi Govt Boys/Girls Elementary School in Keamari, a couple of residents said that their area comprised largely of labourers from mixed ethnic backgrounds who wanted to live in peace.
At one women’s polling station in the area, the rate of votes cast till 1pm was around 35 per cent of the total registered, while another polling station located close by witnessed a turnout of only 13 per cent. A woman said that she had come to cast her vote as she considered it a national obligation and had nothing to do with the sentiments or pressure of friends or family members.
At around 1.10pm, the PPP workers in the area near the Jungle Shah College were seen charged up as party leader Sherry Rehman paid a visit to a voting centre in a motorcade. “Insha-Allah, the PPP candidate will embrace victory in NA-239,” said an excited supporter.
Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP, K.S. Mujahid Baloch of the MQM, Captain Haleem Siddiqui (independent), Amanullah Khan Paracha of the PML-N, Qari Mohammad Usman of the JUI and Zar Bali Syed of the ANP, along with eight other candidates, were in the run for the NA-239 seat. However, due to a late seat adjustment accord between the MQM and JUI, there was some confusion in the constituency, especially about the candidature of Qari Usman.
Tiny polling stations
A couple of polling stations were seen operating out of very limited space within private schools in the four constituencies that fall in the former District West, ultimately causing inconvenience to the voters and election staff. Long queues of voters were present outside polling stations, waiting under the sun, in NA-239, 240 and 241 even in the afternoon. The presiding officers maintained that since there was not enough space in the polling booths for the voters, they had decided to keep the voters outside to wait for their turn.
The areas visited during the day including some parts of Baldia Town, New Saeedabad, Pathan Colony, Machchar Colony, and Orangi Town portrayed pictures of neglect with worn out roads, untidy streets, oozing sewage and clogged water lines.
A number of voters that Dawn spoke to near Bilal Public School, New Saeedabad, Lasi Para Government Primary School, Baldia Town, Nasir Children Academy, Shahi Mohallah, Pathan Colony and Al-Qamar Public School, Sector 4-E, Orangi Town expressed the view that they had been roped in by political parties that never tried to make any visible changes in their lives, which is why they wanted to see changes in the next five years.
Voting suspended
At the Al Qamar School polling station in NA-241, polling remained suspended for about an hour. An assistant presiding officer at the station said that they had stopped working due to the “high-handedness” of political party workers, who had started manoeuvring things, while on the other hand the Rangers and political figures concerned tried to sort out the problem.
At an NA-242 polling station, set up at the Convent Grammar School, 9/E Orangi Town, 162 out of 284 male votes (57 per cent) were cast at one booth, while 53 per cent at another booth till 4.50pm.
Overall, polling remained peaceful in the former District West till 5pm, except some exchanges of hot words on the pretext of irregularities between the political parties.
Despite some late hour election alliances and seat adjustments in at least two constituencies of the former District West, the voters and political workers were in an up-beat mood till the closing of the polls. Outside one polling station in Pathan Colony, handouts/stickers were posted on the walls announcing that Zar Bali Syed was the consensus candidate of the PPP, ANP and MMA.
At a couple of polling stations, voters and party workers also complained about the inadequate arrangements, including supply of relevant voters’ lists to polling stations and as such, voters had to either shunt from one station to another or wait for the correct list for a long time.
Election staffers said that those people who were able to prove their identity in line with the election lists through new or old national identity cards were allowed to cast their vote.
Congestion in polling rooms at some stations also made voting an open affair, as people other than the voter concerned also knew about the stamped candidate, admitted the election officials and expressed the view that there was a dire need to train the voters.
In all, 38 candidates were in the run for four constituencies of the National Assembly in former District West, while the collective number of voters was 1,157,528, including 422,798 women.
