PML-N likely to field Miftah Ismail in Baldia Town by-election

As Federal Minister Faisal Vawda tendered his resignation from the National Assembly after casting his vote in the Senate election on Wednesday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has been planning to field its central leader Miftah Ismail from the NA-249 Karachi in the by-polls.

In the 2018 general polls, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Vawda had defeated PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif from the constituency with a narrow margin.

After Vawda’s resignation, the PML-N is confident to win the constituency easily after gaining support from the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s component parties, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and the Awami National Party.

In the by-polls held in the past two months, the PML-N and PPP supported each other in constituencies in various provinces.

Although the PML-N has not finalised its candidate, sources within the party told The News that former federal minister Ismail, who is currently PML-N Sindh secretary general, is likely to be fielded in the by-election.

Khwaja Tariq Nazeer, the PML-N Sindh information secretary, said the party's parliamentary body had not finalised the name of its candidate for NA-249. However, the party was likely to field Ismail as its candidate in the constituency where the PML-N has a strong support base. Vawda had won the constituency by bagging 35,344 votes after defeating Shahbaz who polled 34,626 votes. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s candidate Mufti Abid Mubarak and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s candidate Aslam Shah had ranked third and fourth after bagging 23,981 and 13,534 votes respectively. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Syed Ataullah Shah had ranked fifth by securing 10,307 votes while PPP’s candidate Qadir Mandokhel polled a mere 7,236 votes and ranked sixth in the competition. The ANP and the JUI-F had formally announced their support for Shahbaz in the constituency.

NA-249 is among the constituencies of Karachi that border Balochistan and is exclusively composed of the entire Baldia Town, comprising Pashtun, Hazarewal (Hindko) and Muhajir populated neighbourhoods with a few Baloch and Sindhi villages.

It comprises neighbourhoods of Baldia Town, Ittehad Town, Rasheedabad, Qaimkhani Colony, Saeedabad, Afridi Colony and other areas.

After his defeat from the constituency in the general polls, Shahbaz had moved the election tribunal of the Sindh High Court against Vawda, seeking nullification of the results and a recount in the entire constituency. However, the tribunal dismissed his petition in October 2019.