HYDERABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has bagged the second highest number of votes, although it did not win any seat in Hyderabad district.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which got most seats in the district, stood third in terms of tally of votes and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ranked first with one national and three provincial seats.

Unofficial results showed that the MQM-P won two out of the three national and three out of six provincial assembly seats in the district and the PPP won one national and three provincial constituencies.

Interestingly, the PTI that won no seat in the district, bagged the highest number of votes. Similarly, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakis­tan (TLP) got fourth position in terms of votes it received in its first polls.

Two mainstream nationalist parties’ leaders, Qaumi Awami Tehreek’s (QAT) Ayaz Latif Palijo and Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party’s (STP) Dr Qadir Magsi remained unlucky. Dr Magsi has resigned from chairmanship of the party after a pathetic electoral performance as he got a paltry 1,045 votes. PPP-Workers leader Naheed Khan also lost to the PPP in Hyderabad on NA-225.

Though the MQM-P has successfully defended its two National Assembly seats in July 25 poll, there is significant decline in the number of votes bagged by the party

when compared with its past polls’ performance in 2013 while the PTI and PPP have improved their vote bank apparently.

MQM-P’s Sabir Kaimkhani — who was an eleventh hour choice of the party for the Latifabad constituency — won NA-226 and Salahuddin Rahimi clinched NA-227 of Hyderabad city. PPP’s Hussain Tariq Shah Jamote, son of former PPP MNA Ameer Ali Shah Jamote, won NA-225 (rural taluka-cum-Qasimabad).

MQM lost Latifabad taluka’s one provincial seat PS-64 which is attached to NA-226. The seat was bagged by PPP’s Abdul Jabbar Khan who has been contesting on this seat since 2008. Jam Khan Shoro won Qasimabad’s PS-62, defeating Ayaz Latif Palijo and Dr Qadir Magsi.

Interned PPP leader Sharjeel Inam Memon has beaten Mohammad Ali Kazi of the Tabdeeli Pasand Party (TPP) backed by the Grand Democratic Alliance, PTI and MQM-P on PS-63 (Tandojam). On the remaining three provincial seats, Rashid Khilji won PS-66, Nasir Qureshi PS-67 and Nadeem Siddiqui PS-65.

The PPP that had formed alliance with Sahibzada Zubair of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan-Noorani (JUP-N) on NA-227 got 245,399 votes on two national and six provincial seats against 167,984 votes of 2013 polls on the same seat. It has secured 74,415 more votes this time. Zubair was also backed by the Milli Muslim League, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, Sunni Tehreek and smaller groups.

The PTI did not get a single seat in the city, but its candidates cumulatively got 200,426 votes in the July 25 polls, ending up as the second highest vote-getter party in Hyderabad, showing an increase of 153,300 votes. It got 47,500 votes in 2013 polls. Still, it remained unlucky, unable to win a single seat. Its candidate, Jamshed Shaikh, who lost to MQM-P’s Sabir Kaimkhani on NA-226, is moving election tribunal to seek recount of votes.

PTI’s tally of votes came on the heels of the party’s perceived popularity wave across Pakistan.

The MQM got 195,281 votes on July 25 against 542,809 votes of 2013 polls, losing 347,609 votes. But it managed to win two national and three provincial seats of Hyderabad.

The TLP that stood fourth in terms of its 48,076 votes, beating Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal that stood fifth after getting 32,426 votes.

The Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), which was formed in 2016 and had declared time and again that it was going to sweep Hyderabad and Karachi, ranked sixth in the district by bagging 32,194 votes despite major defections from its rival, the MQM-P. The TPP got 22,571 votes on PS-62 alone.

GDA got 19,031 votes and PML-N 9,291 votes.

The 147 candidates, who contested on the tickets of different parties and independents, got 882,429 votes and of them 21,697 votes were declared invalid. Ten candidates who contested on Hyderabad’s three National Assembly seats received 431,333 votes whereas those contesting on the provincial assembly seats got 429,399 votes.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2018