PTI, PPP seek applications for contesting NA-249 by-poll

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have sought applications from candidates seeking party tickets to contest the NA-249 Baldia Town by-poll.

The constituency has fallen vacant after Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda submitted his resignation a couple of days ago after casting his vote in the recently-held Senate elections.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is yet to announce its decision regarding Vawda’s disqualification and holding of the by-poll in the constituency.

In the 2018 general elections, Vawda defeated former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif by a narrow margin.

Addressing a meeting, PTI Karachi chief and MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman said they had invited applications from the aspiring candidates to contest the NA-249 by-election after Vawda’s resignation.

“A parliamentary board of the party will make a final decision after the applications are received,” he said, adding that the party would contest the by-poll with full preparation. “We will once again win this seat with a majority,” he predicted.

Meanwhile, the PPP has also sought applications from the candidates seeking the party’s ticket for the NA-249 by-election.

Applications from the interested candidates have to be directed to the Bilawal House, Karachi, or the party’s office in Islamabad with the required formalities within a week, according to a press release issued by the PPP.

The PML-N, which was the runner-up from the constituency in the last general elections, is likely to field Miftah Ismail from the NA-249 constituency.

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

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

The last NA-249 election was a close contest, with Vawda securing 35,344 votes to defeat Shahbaz who polled 34,626 votes.

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.