MIRPURKHAS: Like the rest of the country, the Election Commission of Pakistan set up polling stations for Kashmiris living in different parts of the province on Thursday where they exercised their right to franchise amid tight security arrangements.

In Mirpurkhas, polling LA-30 and LA-36 Azad Kashmir was held in a peaceful manner at two polling stations set up at the Government Girls Hudson High School. A total of 98 votes were cast out of 159 registered votes.

Candidates for LA-30, Muhammad Mansha of Muttahida Qaumi Movement secured 23 votes, Chaudhry Mir Haider of Pakistan Peoples Party obtained six votes and Nasir Hussain Dar of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was polled only three votes, while Syed Rizwan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf got two votes, Amir Abdul Ghaffar of PPP secured 54 votes and Muhammad Nemat Khan of PML-N was polled only one vote for LA-36.

BADIN: PML-N’s Nasir Hussain Dar bagged 23 votes for LA-30 at two polling station in Khoski town and secured four out of five registered votes of Kashmiris in Matli town of Badin district.

Dar’s rivals Mohammad Mansha of MQM, Chaudhri Mir Haider of PPP and Sardar Maqsud Zaman of PTI could not secure even a single vote in the district.

UMERKOT: Chaudhry Mir Haider of PPP bagged 45 votes for LA-30 at a polling station in Government High School in Kunri. Only 53 of 116 registered voters exercised their right to vote.

Mehmooduz Zaman of PTI obtained four votes, Nasir Hussain Dar of PML-N bagged two and the MQM candidate secured only one vote.

HYDERABAD: MQM’s Mohammad Mansha secured 45 votes and his rival PPP’s Chaudhry Mir Haider got only three votes for LA-30 at a polling station set up in Government Boys High School, New Hali Road. Thirteen candidates were in the race for this seat and only 54 of 391 registered votes for LA-30 were polled.

For LA-36, PPP’s Amir Ghaffar Loon secured 45 votes and MQM’s Abdul Rehman was polled only one vote. Only 60 of 116 registered votes were polled at the two polling stations set up in Government High School, Society, and Polytechnical College, Qasimabad.

The political parties, whose candidates were in the race for the seats, had set up camps outside the polling stations to facilitate voters. The voting concluded peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from any area.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2016