pocketed just 6,741 ballots. The turnout was 63.07 percent.
But it was a different story in the 2002 elections as far as the MQM contestant’s victory margin was concerned. Haji Azizullah of MQM had got 53,134 votes compared to 32,879 ballots of Rashid Nasim, who was then sponsored by the now-extinct Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). The turnout was 37.4 percent.
Although the MQM faces a multitude of allegations including ballot stuffing and intimidation of voters in Karachi to win elections at all costs, it is considered a political giant in the mega city. Since the present constituency is considered an MQM bastion, it is a do or die situation for it. But it is under tremendous pressure after the recovery of hardened criminal elements and a convicted killer from its headquarters Nine-Zero in the March 11 raid by the Rangers.
This time, the MQM is in no a position to do any kind of manipulation, and as the situation stands in Karachi now, the Rangers and other law enforcement agencies will make it the most transparent and fair by-poll.
The MQM has never lost this seat since it is in the electoral arena. It can’t even think of being beaten here. If it is successful in retaining the seat, Altaf Hussain will rightly claim that even heavy odds couldn’t whittle down his appeal. But if it loses, a number of its myths will stand broken and previous charges about all earlier Karachi elections will hold ground.
In combination with a host of other factors, the hectic campaign of the PTI and JI in an area that houses Nine-Zero has helped remove the atmosphere of fear and scare in Karachi on an overall basis. In this connection, PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Reham wrote while expressing her views on the social media on Saturday: Karachi NA 246 is not about a seat. It is about challenging fear tactics and liberating people.
The PTI chief holds his last campaign rally in Karachi on Sunday for the April 23 by-election. Extolling her husband, Reham wrote that from Yemen to Altaf Hussain only one man (Imran Khan) has shown leadership qualities. He has been taken bold decisions in both the cases. She also said there is only one leader who can and will go wherever he wants to in Pakistan. For others, KP begins and ends in Haripur, a thinly veiled dig on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has held a couple of political activities in this area.