The election commission has finalised arrangements for Thursday’s by-elections in NA-246 (Azizabad) to be held on April 23 where voters of the National Assembly constituency will elect their new representative.
On the request of Rangers, authorities have installed CCTV cameras inside and outside all 213 polling stations. This is the first instance that surveillance cameras have been installed inside polling stations in Pakistan.
The provincial election commission chief called a meeting of presiding officers (POs) on Wednesday and distributed election stationary and other relevant material among them.
Sources said sensitive material, including ballot papers, were being guarded by Rangers personnel. Besides 7,300 policemen, Rangers will also be deployed at all 213 polling stations declared sensitive by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The ECP has banned use of cellular phones by voters during the election process.
As part of security measures, the Sindh government has imposed three-day pillion-riding ban in the city.
Candidates of three major political parties in the fray – Kanwar Naveed Jamil (MQM), Imran Ismail (PTI) and Rashid Nasim (JI) – have run their aggressive campaigns to win the seat vacated by MQM’s former MNA Nabil Gabol. Despite alliance in KPK, the JI and PTI leadership failed to forge coalition against the rival MQM.
