Summary The polling day is April 23 and the campaigning time will end at midnight
KARACHI (Dunya News) – Karachi’s NA 246 constituency is nothing short of a battleground at this time as the archrival candidates go all in to win what is being viewed as the election decisive of Karachi’s destiny. The contesting parties have also been battling to gather allies and endorsement from other religious and political parties.
No one thought MQM will have to run such a massive campaign for this election. PTI’s candidate is also going all in with the hope to shake up things in a constituency long regarded as MQM’s stronghold. Jamaat Islami is also hopeful of finally getting a break in Karachi.
There are at least twelve other candidates contesting this election. When Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) pledged support to PTI, JUP Noorani also followed the trend and announced to endorse PTI.
While Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had already left battlefield open for MQM, a number of Shia scholars along with 13 small scale Sunni parties have also pledged support for MQM.
Amid all this breaking and forming of alliances, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also jumped in and announced support for Jamaat Islami candidate Rashid Nasim, as did Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F).
Seeing the big guns getting bigger with newly made alliances, two independent candidates Pervaiz Ali and Hasan Pervez alias Mama decided it would be best to withdraw their candidacy.
Meanwhile, two more independent candidates Mehfoozyar Khan withdraw his candidacy in MQM’s favour, while Ashraf Ali withdrew in PTI’s favour.
Currently, Imran Ismail, Kanwar Naveed and Rashid Naseem along with eleven other candidates are battling in hopes of winning the National Assembly’s seat vacated by former MQM leader Nabil Gabol.
The polling day is April 23 and the campaigning time will end at midnight tonight (Tuesday). Keep following DunyaNews.tv for full coverage of the NA 246 by-election.
