ISLAMABAD, Aug 9: Chief Election Commissioner Irshad Hassan Khan has sought the comments of Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim on the complaints of opposition parties regarding irregularities and violation of laws in connection with the forthcoming by-election in Tharparkar.

"As regards general complaints against the government of Sindh by the election cell of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP), the chief election commissioner is pleased to call for the comments of the Sindh chief minister before passing any appropriate orders," says an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) handout here on Monday.

But the commission has not mentioned nature of the complaints. Since the announcement of the poll schedule, the opposition parties have been accusing the government of using state resources for the election campaign of Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz in Attock and Tharparkar.

The opposition parties, particularly the PPP, have alleged that the Sindh chief minister was directly running the campaign of Mr Aziz and had also announced several development projects in Tharparkar in violation of the laws.

Meanwhile, the commission has directed the candidates to lodge their complaints with the returning officer concerned for "expeditious disposal on the spot in accordance with the law".

The EC observed: "So far no complaints have been received from any of the contesting candidates or their authroized election agents from NA-59 (Attock-III) and NA-229 (Tharparkar-I) against the arrangements being made for the by-election."

The commission also announced that polling would continue for nine hours on Aug 18, in both the constituencies. "The CEC has decided that there shall be nine hours polling, between 8am to 5pm (without any break), on Aug 18, for the by-elections in NA-59 (Attock-III) and NA-229 (Tharparkar-I)," says a separate handout of the EC.