Voting for the NA-240 by-poll in Karachi was held on Thursday. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of MQM-P MNA Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan in April this year. This seat is traditionally an MQM strong-hold and this time too, the party was able to retain the seat – albeit with a very close margin. The final tally of unofficial results declared Mohammad Abu-Bakr of the MQM-P as the winner. He secured 10,683 votes as opposed to the runner-up Shehzada Shahbaz of the TLP bagging 10,618 votes. The very narrow margin of victory has prompted the defeated candidate to reject the results and make a decision to challenge the outcome in court. Thursday’s by-poll saw a blatant display of weapons and violence. The voter turnout was exceptionally low and mismanagement was evident at various polling stations. The same was the case with the law-enforcement agencies that failed to prevent clashes between workers of rival parties. Ultimately, it became a deadly affair as an assault on election camps claimed one life and left over a dozen people injured. Nearly all contesting parties have issues with the transparency of the polls and have raised complaints of rigging. Some analysts have attributed the low voter turnout to Altaf Hussain’s call for a boycott – although the same call was made in 2018 but the turnout at that time had been sufficient. One of the reasons for the low turnout could be that voting fell on a working day in a constituency where a lot of people work in the industrial area. Taking notice of the law-and-order challenges during the by-poll, CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja Friday spoke with the CM, chief secretary and police chief of Sindh, reminding them that responsibility to maintain law and order during polls came under their jurisdiction.
The main takeaway from the NA-240 by-poll is just how close the TLP got to getting a place in the National Assembly. The rise of the TLP in Karachi especially is a case study for several reasons. The party is said to be working at the grassroots level in many constituencies, taking part in charity work. It is already part of the Sindh Assembly, but this time came extremely close to making it to the National Assembly. Observers say that the TLP should not be taken lightly by mainstream political parties in the next general elections. It will definitely act as a spoiler, which is how it has been seen electorally, but it can also win a few seats if the political polarization in the country continues at this scale.
To some, this is an alarming development. A party that has time and again incited violence in the name of religion is now gaining traction across constituencies. Karachi is the largest city of the country and the most ethnically and religiously diverse. The rise of the TLP in the city does not bode well, given the party’s tendency to resort to violence and rioting. This should also be a wakeup call for mainstream parties such as the PML-N, PPP, and the PTI at just how disillusioned the regular voter is with these parties. With elections looming next year, it is time for all major political parties to look at their performances and reset their public contact.