DISTRICT South is home to the city’s well-off as well as downtrodden segments of society.

The stark difference between the rich and poor localities in the district is the perfect example of how the state showers resources upon affluent localities, like Defence and Clifton, and neglects those living in low-income neighbourhoods and slums, like the old city areas and Lyari.

Two of the three National Assembly constituencies in the district — one comprising salubrious Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and the other consisting Lyari — are considered as strongholds of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Pakistan Peoples Party, respectively.

While the PTI had won the two NA seats in the 2018 general elections, this time round lady luck may smile on the PPP vying for the seats of DHA, Clifton and Lyari since the party of Imran Khan, despite its popularity, is in hot waters.

The district with stark rich and poor gap has three NA seats in Lyari, Kharadar and DHA/Clifton

As many as 1,249,594 voters — 677,329 males and 572,266 females in the district South, the sixth in terms of population and fourth in terms of votes in the city, will elect three candidates to the National Assembly seats and five to the Sindh Assembly seats in the Feb 8 general elections.

The district that earlier had two National Assembly seats now comprising DHA and Clifton and Lyari has got an additional National Assembly seat NA-240 due to high growth rate of population in downtown area, while the growth rate in DHA and Clifton remains low.

The NA-240 comprises the areas which were in the former two constituencies of NA-246 and NA-247. Now the areas in the provincial assembly constituency PS-107, such as New Kumharwara, Juman Shah Kala Goth, Mirza Adam Khan Road, Singu Lane, Nauwa Lane, Football Grounds, Nishtar Road, Ramswami, Ranchore Line, Paan Mandi and areas in PS-109 including Madina Mansion, Kharadar, Boltan Market, Iqbal Plaza, Kothari Garden and Denso Hall, have been included in NA-240 constituency.

The district consisted two national and five provincial constituencies in the 2018 delimitations.

According to the first digital and seventh census of 2023, the population has increased in the two national assembly constituencies of 2023, and there are now three constituencies of the National Assembly and five constituencies of the Sindh Assembly.

Besides the posh and old parts of the city, the district also comprises Delhi Colony, Punjab Colony and high security areas such as Governor House, Chief Minister House and Jinnah Hospital.

The district is also a hub of commercial activities as Saddar, Empress Market, Bohri Bazar, Electronics Market, Mobile Market, Gems Market and several other shopping centres are located here.

The district consists of two towns, 26 union committees, 104 UC wards and two cantonment boards where multi-ethnic rich, middle and poor people live.

According to the official results of the 2023 census, the population of district South is 2,329,764 people. The number of houses is 426,224 and the overall rate of increase in population under the 2023 census was 4.71 per cent.

In general elections of 2018, there were two seats of National Assembly — NA 246 and NA 247 — and five seats of Sindh Assembly PS-107, PS-108, PS-109, PS-110 and PS-111.

Now, there are three National Assembly seats — NA-239, NA-240 and NA-241 and five provincial assembly seats — PS-106, PS-107, PS108, PS-109 and PS-110.

The major parties gearing up for electoral battle are the Pakistan Peoples’ Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

NA-239

This constituency comprises Agra Taj Colony, Daryabad, Hingorabad, Khadda Memon Society, Nayabad, Baghdadi, Shah Baig Lane, Bihar Colony, Gulistan Colony, Gul Muhammad Lane - Rangiwara, Kalakot- Rexerlane and other areas.

The overall population of the area stands at 783,497 with registered voters of 422,081 including 233,087 males and 188,994 females.

There are 19 aspirants vying for Feb 8 general elections from this constituency including Sardar Nabil Ahmed Gabol of PPP, JI’s Fazal Ur Rehman Niazi, PTI-backed Yasir Baloch, Muhammad Sharjil Goplani of TLP, Maulana Noor-Ul-Haq of JUI-Pakistan and former PTI MNA Abdul Shakoor Shad.

NA-240

The constituency covers Singo Lane, Nawa Lane, Old Town Kharadar, Bhimpura- Ghanchi Para, Hassan Lashkari Village, Garden, Millat Nagar, Ranchor Line, Ghazdarabad, Nanakwara and other areas. It has mainly been carved out from the old NA-247 and some parts of NA-246.

This constituency has total population of 782,762 and 385,971 registered voters, including male 210,741 and 175,230 females.

MQM-P’s Arshad Vohra, Saleem Mandviwalla of PPP, Syed Abdul Rasheed of JI, independent (PTI’s) candidate Ramzan Ghanchi and TLP’s Zaman Ali Jafri are among the aspirants contesting for the NA-240 seat.

NA-241

As many as 39 candidates are vying for this National Assembly seat, formerly NA-247, which was won by President Arif Alvi in 2018 polls before he was elected to the office of the President of Pakistan.

He bagged 91,020 votes and defeated TLP candidate Syed Zaman Ali Jafri, who had bagged 24,680 votes. MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar got 24,146 votes, followed by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Muhammad Hussain Mehanti with 22,780 votes. PPP’s Abdul Aziz Memon and PML’s Afnan Ullah Khan had secured 22,780 and 19,552 votes respectively.

However, later in the bye-elections, PTI’s Aftab Siddiqui got 32,456 votes, followed by MQM-P’s Sadiq Iftikhar with 14,360 votes and PPP’s Qaiser Khan Nizamani with 13,360 votes.

The constituency is set to witness one of the most interesting contests as the candidates of all major parties are among as many as 38 aspirants who include Dr Farooq Sattar of MQM-P, independent (PTI’s) candidate Khurram Sher Zaman, PPP’s Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Muhammad Wasim of TLP, Naveed Ali Baig of JI and PML-N’s Rozina.

This constituency comprises Aram Bagh, City Railway Colony, Burns Road, Ferer Town, Hijrat Colony, Boat Basin, Clifton-Kehkashan, Upper Gizri, Shah Rasool Colony, Shereen Jinnah Colony, General Abad, Saddar, Mayfair Centre, Rainbow Centre, Press Club, Sea Breeze Plaza, Dawood Puta Road, Askari 2 & 3, Jinnah Hospital, Kala Pul, Navy Heights, Bizerta Line, Hazara Colony Railway Quarters, Punjab Colony, Delhi Colony, Defence Garden, Chandio Village, P&T Colony, Phase I, Sabir SRE, Commercial Street, Neelam Colony, Phase II Extension, Phase II Commercial Area, Golf Course, Phase IV, Phase 5, 6, 7, 8, Zam Zama, Badar Commercial and Seaview.

The total population of these areas stands at 761,882 with 462,512 registered voters, including 243,868 men and 218,644 women.

PS-106

As many as 23 aspirants, including Usman Ghani of PPP, Syed Abdur Rasheed of JI, PTI-backed Hanif and PML-N’s Amjad Ali Asif, are in the run here. Parts of Lyari, including Mirza Adam Khan Road, Memon Society, Baghdadi, Musa Lane, Bismillah Colony and other areas are located here. There are total 227,787 voters — 125,393 males and 102,394 females — in the constituency.

PS-107

The areas in the constituency include Shah Baig Lane, Haji Juma Goth, Lasi Road, Gulistan Colony, Muzammil Shah Road, Light House, KMC Workshop, Singu Lane, Nawa Lane and Football Ground. The total registered voters are 260,937 – 140,114 men and 11,082 women. PPP’s Muhammad Yousuf, JI’s Muhammed Essa, TLP’s Syed Ali Osama Qadri, PTI-backed Khalid and PML-N’s Tanvir Jadoon are contestants here.

PS-108

Garden West, Dhobi Ghaat, Usmanabad, Pakistan Quarters, Nishtar Road, Ramswami, Ranchore Line and Pan Mandi are part of the constituency with 253,208 total registered voters, including 138,135 males and 115,073 females. The candidates include MQM-P’s Muhammad Dilawar, PPP’s Muhammad Fiyyaz and TLP’s Sultan Ahmed.

PS-109

The areas in the constituency included Madina Mansion Kharadar, Kohrhi Garden, Denso Hall, Sindh Madressatul Islam, New Chali, Aram Bagh, City Railway Colony. The total number of total registered voters is 222,977 – 118,935 men and 104,024 females. MQM-P’s Iftikhar Qaimkhani, PPP’s Abdur Razzaq, JI’s Muhammad Zakir Mehanti, PTI-backed Bilal Jadoon and Muhammad Raza of TLP are vying for the provincial assembly seat here.

PS-110

PNT Colony, Punjab Colony, Dehli Colony, and parts of Clifton Cantonment Board are included in PS-110.

There are 315,655 registered voters in the constituency — 165,119 men and 150536 women.

The candidates include Shariq Naseem of the MQM-P, PPP’s Syed Najmi Alam, JI’s Sufiyan Dilawar and TLP’s Masood Ahmed.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2024