SUKKUR, May 11: Mismanagement marred an otherwise peaceful polling in Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpurkhas divisions on Saturday albeit some incidents of clashes between workers of rival parties and delayed start of voting at a number of polling stations.

Nevertheless, turnout of voters remained surprisingly larger than it was witnessed in previous elections, according to a tentative assessment.

The voting process was delayed by about an hour and a half at all the polling stations in Sukkur and Rohri because of belated arrival of polling staff and election material.

A survey of different polling stations in Sukkur and adjoining areas found people eagerly awaiting their turn to cast vote in long queues despite scorching heat.

Activists of different political parties were seen trying to catch voters’ attention by providing them cold water and snacks at their camps pitched 400 meters from the polling stations.

Many candidates had arranged transport to carry voters from different parts of the city to polling stations despite a ban by the election commission.

A neck-and-neck contest was witnessed on NA-198 where PPP’s Noman Islam Shaikh was pitted against JUI-F’s Agha Ayoob, MQM’s Munawwar Chohan and Mubeen jatoi, an independent candidate.

On NA-199, the contest between PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah and his rivals PML-F’s Zaheer Korai and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Rab Nawaz Kalwar appeared to be a one-sided affair because of Mr Shah’s strong position in the constituency.

In Sukkur city, polling continued in a mostly peaceful manner despite incidents of hooliganism in Bachal Shah Miani and SITE area which were easily brought under control by police and Rangers.

At many polling stations polling staff and agents of candidates complained to journalists that the voter lists provided to them were in a very poor condition. Many entries were not legible and some lists had incorrect data, causing inconvenience and unnecessary delay, they said.

In Larkana, polling process remained mostly peaceful except a few incidents of clashes between rival groups. The voting began late at a number of polling stations because of belated arrival of polling staff but it continued uninterrupted afterwards with a large participation of female voters. Long queues of voters kept swelling despite scorching heat. Turnout of voters remained below 35 per cent, according to a tentative assessment.

In Khairpur, mismanagement marred the voting process at a number of polling stations and caused inconvenience for voters. Otherwise, it continued peacefully throughout the day.

Voters of same areas, localities and even families were shocked to learn on arrival at nearby polling stations that it was not the polling station where they were supposed to cast vote.

In Dadu, the voting process started four hours late at polling stations in the constituencies of NA-232 (Dadu-Johi) and PS-75 (Johi).

In Mirpurkhas, the voting process continued peacefully throughout the day for two National Assembly and three provincial assembly seats amid strict security arrangements.

Long queues of voters including a large number of women braved scorching heat throughout the day as they awaited their turn to cast vote in front of polling station.

According to assessments of political analysts, the turnout was more than 50 per cent in both rural and urban areas.

In Umerkot, the polling process started at its scheduled time at more than 20 polling stations and continued throughout the day peacefully despite a few brawls between rival groups amid allegations of snatching of national identity cards and coercion by certain parties’ agents to get voters to cast votes in favour of their candidates.

At many polling stations, people other than the polling staff were found freely wandering inside polling booths.

Syed Sardar Ali Shah, a PPP candidate for PS-69, accused his opponent Faquir Jadam Mangrio of PML-F of rigging and refused to accept results of 15 polling stations. He said that his rival’s agents were found busy snatching ballot papers from women voters and stamping them.