Voting in NA-246: Then and now
April 23 was a highly awaited day because it is supposed to decide the future of NA-246 – a constituency reigned by the biggest political party in Karachi, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The resignation of Nabeel Gabol from the constituency, which was home to MQM chief Altaf Hussain, raised the important question of who was going to be the new ruler.
With the hype around the by-elections peaking, people skipped work to vote for their desired candidates from the MQM, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) among other parties and candidates. By the time I arrived at 9.30 am, the lines were already long; enthusiasm was present and sleep was compromised.
Follow live: NA-246 by-elections
When I arrived at the polling stations, the general outlook appeared fairly different from that in 2013.
Rigging-free elections?
Following the operation against terrorist outfits in political parties, it wasn’t surprising to see a heavy deployment of Rangers and Police patrolling the areas. In contrast to 2013, Rangers’ personnel stood at the gates of polling stations alongside policemen.
If, indeed, the polling has been largely free of rigging, NA-246 seems to have led the way in setting this valuable precedent; the security forces were there to make sure that voting carried on fair and square.
Unlike the last time, it was not the policemen but the paramilitary soldiers who were entrusted with checking voter CNICs. But oddly enough, some of them did not quite know what they were doing.
At the Metropolis School station near Gulberg, one personnel asked a voter why he was holding up his CNIC to him, to which the person replied: “I came for voting”. The soldier then asked the policeman to let him in after a quick frisk.
Some female voters had already taken their belongings inside when they were called out to leave them behind. Clearly, there should have been more ladies’ police workers outside the station, because none of the women were being checked.
Inside, though, there were more than two policewomen, who stood at the window of polling booths to monitor the activities. I felt this was unnecessary because two Rangers personnel were already sitting inside every pooling booth to scrutinise the process, (the delay of which more than irked many of the female voters).
The elderly voters were given a special room. One of them, confused about where to put the stamp, asked the Rangers official to point out where the ballot paper was to be stamped, but the official politely declined:
"I am sorry I can't help you, just stamp the symbol of your candidate."
Yet, many voters were complaining of stoppage, and were displeased by the mismanagement:
“It took me 30 minutes this time, last time it was much faster and convenient. We had already been given our voting cards, yet they are asking us to go all the way to get this yellow receipt, just to create impediments.”
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In the polling booth for men, one of the Rangers officers sat on the desk and was questioning the voters on identity cards he found suspicious. One of the male voters was upset because he was asked to go to another booth only to be sent back thrice. Before tempers could shoot up, one Rangers personnel intervened and apologised on the other's behalf.
He also told me that the Rangers were present in the station a night earlier:
"We have been here since last night and are assisting the voters as best as we can. I hope the elections go evenly without disruptions. May the best candidate win."
At the Govt. Girls Primary School Aziz National, the situation was slightly different. Although women were still not being frisked, a policewoman was there to check the CNIC of all female voters.
Many voters who were informed that mobile phones were strictly prohibited inside the station felt extremely bothered by this, because they didn’t know of the rule beforehand.
“I do not have this ‘media’ in my house so I didn’t read any of your ‘slides’ on TV channels. Now I’ll have to wait for even longer because I have to stand outside and hold this phone while my daughters go inside to vote, and only after they are done can I go in. I even asked the policewoman to keep the phone till we all voted, but she plainly refused. It is already so hot here and they are making things more complicated.”
However, given how the policewoman did not have the required equipment to frisk the voters, slipping a phone inside the booth could have been accomplished quite easily.
Rangers officials also rejected news about scuffles at the station.
The hustle and bustle
A day before the by-elections, authorities declared April 23 a holiday for schools and colleges falling in NA-246, and the area wore a deserted look as shops were shut and traffic was thin.
Given that it was still early morning, I felt the voter turnout was quite a lot, with some queued up outside the premises of the station.
Unlike last year, each camp had policemen deployed along with a mobile in-waiting, to avoid any political clashes.
Dubbed as front-runners, the MQM, JI and PTI had their camps scattered all across the area. The JI, which boycotted the 2013 elections, was quite active and their workers were present to help the voters. The PTI’s camp, though, appeared all but abandoned, with not a single worker in sight.
Last year, they had no camp at all. This time it was very much there, but only in body, not in spirit.
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