Against surveys: PML-N’s Miftah leads Karachi by-poll, PTI far behind

Contrary to what surveys suggested, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Miftah Ismail is leading the race for Karachi’s NA-249 constituency, unofficial results from 54 of 276 polling stations show.

While the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) are trailing behind, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for now rests at the bottom of the table.

Earlier, the polling process continued rather peacefully with no untoward incident taking place.

Voter turnout, despite strict security arrangements, was reported to be low, mainly owing to Ramzan, scorching heat and the fact that the election was conducted on a business day.

CONTRARY TO SURVEYS:

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his PTI were the most popular in embattled NA-249 constituency of Karachi until earlier today.

According to surveys by Ipsos, Pulse Consultant and Gallup Pakistan, PTI was likely to retain the seat that had fallen vacant after its Faisal Vawda stepped down; however, rival PML-N could give it a tought time.

The Karachi West-II seat of the National Assembly lies in Baldia Town neighbourhood of the metropolis.

It was won by PTI’s Vawda in the 2018 general election after beating PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif.

As many as 276 polling stations comprising 796 polling booths had been established in the constituency.

The constituency, with 339,591 registered voters, had emerged to be a highly contested seat with candidates belonging to almost every major political party fighting for it.

Prominent candidates in the run were Miftah Ismail of PML-N, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Syed Mustafa Kamal, Amjad Afridi of PTI, Qadir Khan Mandokhail of PPP, Mohammad Mursaleen of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Mufti Nazeer Ahmed Kamalvi of TLP.

With results still pouring in, a sudden turn of events hasn’t been ruled out by pundits.