In the scheduled October 2002 elections, Mohammad Fahimuddin has been fielded by the MQM. He is not a public figure if compared with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) candidate, Asadullah Bhutto, who is also president of the Sindh MMA and Jamaat-i-Islami.
There is no doubt that the MQM nominee is up against a very well known personality of the MMA candidate, but like all its candidates, he enjoys the backup and support of the MQM — one of the most well knit and tested political organizations in the country with a dedicated cadre of workers.
And as there are only two weeks left in the elections and there is no visibility of a political atmosphere, only those parties can make it which command disciplined workers who can motivate people to exercise their franchise on polling day. Besides the MQM, Jamaat-i-Islami is another party which does have organizational structure in every part of the city, but it lacks mass appeal, while other parties of the alliance either don’t have any visible organizational set up or a large number of dedicated workers, except Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, which does have youths in the form of students of its seminaries spread over the city. But these youths do not make for much as they are aliens to the localities and the environment.
Whatever the case may be, the other candidates out of 18 in the run are Nazir Ibrahim Shaikh (Candle), Syed Abdul Raqeeb (Helicopter), Zainul Abedin Ansari (Tiger), Ali Haider Salim (Bat), Syed Sitwat Hussain (Truck), Fahmida Khatoon (Coat), Hafiz Moinuddin (Fish), Shanul-Haq Pirzada (Tractor), Mohammad Yusuf Qureshi (Butterfly), Wing Cmdr Mohammad Nawaz Asim (Bicycle), Mohammad Qutbuz-Zaman (Rose), Syed Irshad Hussain (Eagle), Syed Mohammad Sharifuddin (Tower), Shafi Mohammad Shah (Arrow), Qazi Mohammad Mazhar Hussain Rehmani (Star), Lt Col (Retd) Mohammad Mukhtar Ahmad Ghazi (Crescent).
The constituency is spread over Gulshan-i-Iqbal Blocks 1 to 9, 11, 13, 15 to 19, Safari Park, Metroville III, NED University, Karachi University, Maimar Complex and Al-Asif Square.
Its population is 497,268 with 251,489 registered voters having 139,480 males and 112,009 females.
Records from the last four elections show that in 1997, there were 270,797 registered voters, while 64,908 votes were cast showing a turnout of 23.97 per cent. Among 13 candidates, Dr Nishat Malik of MQM was elected, securing 36,738 votes, followed by Abubakr Shaikhani of PML (N) and Fauzia Wahab of PPP who bagged 22,328 and 1,705 votes respectively.
In the 1993 elections, there were 22 candidates in the field, while registered voters were 241,296. The turn out was 43,255 votes, indicating that only 17.93 per cent of voters exercised their right. Abubakr Shaikhani of PML (N) was declared elected with 27,845 votes, while Syed Munawwar Hasan of PIF and Mohammad Zaman Mahsood of the PPP, who bagged 8,550 and 4,679 votes respectively were the runners up.
In the 1990 elections, there were only four candidates in the run. Against 228,682 registered voters, 102,074 votes were cast, showing a turnout of 44.64 per cent. Islam Nabi of the MQM, who bagged 72,272 votes, returned to the House while Syed Munawwar Hasan of the IJI and Iqbal Yusuf of the PDA remained runners up with 21,329 and 7,642 votes respectively.
In 1988, out of 213,518 registered voters, 99,690 votes were cast, indicating a 46.69 per cent turnout. Among 13 candidates, Syed Mohammad Zakaria Kazmi of the MQM who had contested election as an independent, bagged 62,038 votes and was elected, while Syed Munawwar Hasan of the IJI and Abdul Hameed Khanzada of PPI secured 18,039 and 13,740 votes respectively were the runners up.
SINDH ASSEMBLY: In NA-253, there are two PA seats — 118 and 119. PA-118 covers Gulshan-i-Iqbal Blocks 1 to 9, 13 and 15 to 19 with a population of 235,238 and 117,111 registered voters with 63,710 males and 53,401 females.
In the October 2002 elections, there are 12 candidates in the field. They are Mohammad Ameen (Camel), Syed Abdul Naeem (Aeroplane), Shabnam Haneef (Lota), Tahseen Zafar (Candle), Abdul Majeed (Fish), Syed Qutub Ahmad (Book), Khwaja Bilal Azam (Arrow), Syed Faisal Ali Sabzwari (Kite), Pervaiz Ahmed (Crescent), Mohammad Imtiaz (Star), Rizwan Zamir (Hockey), and M. Ashraf Qureshi (Bat).
In the 1997 general elections, a large part of the constituency was in PS-93, where out 112,152 registered voters, only 27,000 votes were cast, showing a turnout of 24.07 per cent. Among the 13 candidates, Wasim Akhtar of the HPG, after securing 12,530 votes, was declared elected, while Amir Iqbal of PML (N) was the runner up with 11,252 votes.
In 1993, when there were 101,543 registered votes, 29,553 were cast, indicating a 29.10 per cent turnout among 13 candidates. Waseem Akhtar of HPG, after securing 22,441 votes, was declared elected while Shamim Pasha of PIF bagged 1,550 votes and declared runner up.
In the 1990 elections, Abid of the HPG was elected with 28,123 votes out of 36,911 polled votes, while the number of registered voters was 98,352 with only four candidates in the run. Malik Asghar Ali of the IJI, who secured 6,692 votes, was second. The turnout percentage was 37.53.
In 1988, there were 94,693 registered voters, while 43,349 votes were cast, indicating a turnout of 47.89 per cent. In this election, out of 21 candidates, Abid of the HPG who had contested the polls as an independent was declared successful by securing 25,945 votes, while Sardar Mohammad Yaqub Khan of PPI was the runner up with 7,192 votes.
PS-119 covers localities of Phelwan Goth, Natha Khan Goth, Shah Faisal Colony-4, and Faisal Cantonment, with a population of 213,132 and 102,929 registered voters with 55,884 males and 47,045 females.
For the scheduled polls, there are 11 candidates in the run. They are Zahiruddin Babar (Bicycle), Mohammad Asim Jamil (Candle), Munawwar Mirza Jamal (Butterfly), Fateh Mohammad (Lota), Mohammad Haleem Khan (Book), Ali Akbar (Tiger), Mohammad Amir Khalil (Table Lamp), Shaikh Nadeemuz-Zaman Mohammad Azim (Lock), Mohammad Abbas Jaferi (Kite), Dr Manzoor Quadir (Arrow), and Khalid Mehmood Nasir (Bat).
In the 1997 polls, registered voters were 144,653, while 42,921 votes were cast showing a turn out of 21.67 per cent. Out of 13 candidates, Mohammad Hussain of the HPG was elected securing 29,879 votes, while Mohammad Latif of PML (N) with 8,453 votes stood second.
In the 1993 elections, 4,822 votes were cast out of 133,695 registered votes, showing a 36.07 per cent turnout, and out of 17 candidates, Mohammad Hussain of HPG was elected by securing 40,419 votes, while Syed Naeemuddin of the PPP bagged 3,529 votes and stood second.
In 1990, there were 130,850 registered voters, while turnout was recorded at 44.94 per cent, as 58,789 votes were cast among nine candidates. Mohammad Naeem Akhtar of HPG was elected with 40,419 votes, while Mohammad Aslam Mujahid was second bagging 6,561 votes.
In the 1988 elections, there were 123,614 registered voters, while 59,702 votes were cast, showing a 48.30 per cent turnout among 18 candidates. Mohammad Naeem Akhtar of HPG contested as an independent and was elected with 43,522 votes. Mohammad Aslam of the PPI was the runner up with 6,227 votes.