PPP-P not in the race for 19 national, provincial constituencies from its stronghold Sindh
Pakistan
Seats in questions are both in urban and rural parts of the province
LAHORE (Dunya Election Cell) – Sindh is a PPP-Parliamentarian stronghold. No doubt about it. But things are perhaps changing as the hasn’t been able to field candidates on several national and provincial constituencies in the province, including Karachi and interior Sindh.
There are 61 National Assembly seats allotted to Sindh, however, the PPP has is aspiring for 53 of these, meaning there are no party candidates in the remaining eight.
Similarly, the PPP-Parliamentarian [PPP-P] has issued party tickets to 119 candidates for the 130 Sindh Assembly seats, leaving the 11 open to the adversaries.
WOMEN RIGHTS CHAMPION
The PPP-P always presents itself as the sole representative of women in Pakistan. But the ground realities show otherwise in a province where honour killings and forced marriages are rampant.
Hence, there are only two women PPP-P nominees vying for the National Assembly from entire Sindh – Nafisa Shah, who is the daughter former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, is one of the contestants in NA-202 Khairpur I and Shazia Atta Mari who filed her nomination papers for NA-209 Sanghar I.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Details of the National Assembly constituencies where the PPP isn’t in the race is given below.
- NA-192 Kashmore-Shikarpur:
Previously in 2018, this constituency was named as NA-198 Shikarpur I, with Abid Hussain Bhayo of PPP-P being victorious after begging 64,283 votes. Ibrahim Jatoi, an influential independent, was second, securing 45,016 votes. For the February 8 elections, Jatoi and JUI-F Sindh chief Maulana Rashid Mehmood are in the run in this constituency.
- NA-200 Sukkur I:
Nauman Islam Sheikh of PPP-P was the winner in 2018. He had secured 70,870 votes followed by 60,531 votes for PTI’s Mobeen Ahmed. Both are again among the aspirants for this constituency which was known as NA-207 Sukkur II in 2024, but without a PPP-P candidate.
- NA-220 Hyderabad III:
The PPP-P didn’t have a candidate for this constituency in 2018 too when it was called NA-227 Hyderabad III and Salahuddin of MQM-P elected as MNA with 52,056 votes.
- NA-232 Korangi I [Karachi]:
Begging 69,161 votes, Akram Khan of PTI was the winner in 2018. Syed Imran Haider Abidi of PPP-P was a distant sixth with 11,887 votes from this constituency previous called NA-239 Korangi I.
- NA-233 Korangi II [Karachi]:
Known as NA-240 Korangi II, people in this area had elected Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan of MQM-P as their representative in 2018 by giving him public mandate with 61,165 votes. His rival from PPP-P Muhammad Feroze was placed sixth. He secured 7,586 votes.
- NA-234 Korangi III [Karachi]:
It was labelled as NA-241 Korangi III for the previous general elections. The winner from this constituency was PTI nominee – Faheem Khan – who had polled 26,714 votes. Back then, the PPP-P candidate, Moazzam Ali Qureshi, could only beg 9,370 votes, leaving him fifth in the race – again showing the Korangi district of Karachi has very little appetite for the province’s largest party.
- NA-240 South II [Karachi]:
This newly-formed constituency comprises of areas which were previously part of NA-240 Korangi, NA-246 South and NA-247 South. The PPP-P couldn’t clinch any of these in 2018. Abdul Shakoor Shad in a major surprise had snatched NA-246 – covering the Lyari area, a PPP-P bastion – after polling 52,750 votes with another 42,377 for Ahmed Bilal Saleem Qadri of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). It means Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was placed third place after obtaining 39,347 votes.
- NA-250 Central IV [Karachi]:
Syed Sajid Hassan with 7,587 votes had been racked seventh in the race for this constituency in 2018 when it was listed as NA-256 Central IV. PTI’s Muhammad Najeeb Haroon was the winner after begging 89,857 votes.
SINDH ASSEMBLY
The 11 provincial assembly seats in Sindh where the PPP isn’t contesting are: PS-18 Ghotki I, PS-31 Khairpur VI, PS-64 Hyderabad V, PS-65 Hyderabad VI, PS-70 Badin III, PS-88 Malir V [Karachi], PS-90 Korangi I [Karachi], PS-92 Korangi III [Karachi], PS-108 South III [Karachi], PS-109 South IV [Karachi] and PS-117 West III [Karachi].
KARACHI MAYOR FACTOR CANCELLED
Another interesting fact, which can’t be ignored, is that the PPP-P currently holds the office of Karachi’s mayor, but could even field its nominees for six national and five provincial seats in the megacity.
