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MQM has been winning this seat since 2004. PPP has always claimed that this is a PPP seat but MQM wins it by rigging. This will be an interesting contest on July 13th. PTI in my opinion come a distant third. Below an interesting read by a neutral journalist who does not have support any of the 3 parties.
Karachi
Unlike other constituencies of the national and provincial assemblies of Karachi where by-polls were held in recent months, a frenzied three-way contest is expected in the PS-127, a provincial assembly seat of the rural and urban areas of Malir.
The main stakeholders in the constituencys politics include the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf - and all of them are confident of winning the seat.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that by-election in PS-127 would be held on July 13 and has issued its schedule.
The seat was vacated after the resignation of Ashfaq Ahmed Mangi, an MQM MPA who on April 18 joined the newly-launched Pak Sarzameen Party led by former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal.
The constituency comprises a mix of urban and rural areas. Its urban parts include Jaffar Tayyar Society, a Shia majority neighbourhood, and the Gharibabad union council. Dozens of villages including Old Thano, Ghazi Dawood Brohi Goth, Aasoo Goth - where various Baloch and Sindhi tribes and Memons are settled - make up rural parts.
Abdullah Murads legacy
Sitting at a PPP office in Malir, its activists were busy in discussing the upcoming by-polls.
The party activists and the residents of the constituency will snatch back the constituency of their slain leader Abdullah Murad from the MQM, said Noman Murad, the PPP president in the constituency and Abdullah Murads son.
Elected as an MPA in the PS-127, Abdullah Murad had secured a sweeping victory in the constituency in 2002. He had bagged 21,771 votes against his rival candidate, MQMs Shahbaz Hussain, who had secured 16,810 votes.
However, the PPP could not win the constituency after Abdullah Murad was gunned down in March 2014.
But this time, satisfied with the results of the local government polls held in December, the PPP is confident that it will win in the constituency.
The PS-127 comprises both areas falling in the District Municipal Corporation Malir and the District Council Karachi.
Salman Murad, Abdullah Murads elder son, and Jan Muhamamd Baloch, both PPP leaders, are likely to become the chairmen of the District Council Karachi and the DMC Malir respectively in the mayor polls scheduled on June 29.
The party has fielded a strong candidate , Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, in comparison with its candidates for the constituency in the previous polls.
Baloch has served as the nazim of Gadap Town twice.
Besides, Abdul Hakeem Baloch, the minister of state for communication who has recently resigned, is also likely to support Ghulam Murtaza Baloch because of his close family ties with him and the intention of joining the PPP in the near future.
Noman Murad said the ongoing operation had provided an atmosphere for free and fair elections in the local government polls, in which PPP overwhelmingly won in the constituency.
In the past polls, the MQM won the seat through rigging. We can win the PS-127 by-polls easily provided that the polls are held in a safe atmosphere, he added
MQMs track record
MQM leaders insist that the party will retain the PS-127 as it won the seat by a significant margin in last three polls two general elections and a by-poll.
After the assassination of Abdullah Murad, MQM candidate Yusuf Munir Shaikh won the seat bagging 41,089 votes against PPP candidate Muhammad Umar Jat, who secured 25,430 votes.
In the 2008 general polls, MQM candidate Nisar Ahmed Panhwar, who bagged 65,434 votes, defeated PPPs Muhamamd Rafiq, who secured 46,469 votes.
Similarly, MQMs Mangi, who bagged 59,811 votes, had defeated PPPs Ashraf Samoo and the PTIs Syed Azhar.
Samoo and Azhar had secured 15,158 votes and 13,818 votes respectively.
The MQM has not finalised its candidate so far and will announce the name this week. The likely candidates inlcude Yusuf Munir, who served as an MPA in the constituency, Ahsan Ghori, Javed Iqbal, and Hameedul Zafar.
MQM coordination committee member Aminul Haque said the party had a strong support base in Malirs urban and rural areas.
The results of local government polls and by-elections of the national and provincial assemblies of Karachi held in recent months show that the MQMs graph among the masses has not dropped but there has been a surge in its popularity, Haque told The News.
He said the miscreants of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi were harassing MQM workers and supporters in some areas of the PS-127.
However, he added that the party had the experience of handling such situations and it would not affect the results of the polls.
PTI stronger
The PTI had bagged a significant number of votes in the constituency in the 2013 general polls. The recent inclusion of Malirs influential chieftain Jam Abdul Karim Bajar has made the PTI an even stronger political force in the constituencys politics. After meeting with PTI central leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Bijar joined the PTI on June 6 along with his eight district councillors. For the upcoming by-poll, the PTI, in consultation with Jam, has fielded Nadeem Memon, a former government officer.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print/127356-Tough-contest-expected-between-PPP-MQM-and-PTI-for-PS-127
