KARACHI, Jan 14: Stage is set for the by-elections in three National Assembly and five Sindh Assembly constituencies to be held on Wednesday.

The seats had fallen vacant by those elected in October polls on the national and provincial seats simultaneously and had to withdraw from one of them. Five of them had opted for their NA seats whereas the rest decided to retain their Sindh PA seats.

The NA constituencies where by-elections are being held are NA-201 Shikarpur, NA-216 Khairpur and NA-242 Karachi.

The PA constituencies — PS-10 Shikarpur, PS-12 Shikarpur, PS-18 Jacobabad, PS-76 Dadu and PS-86 Thatta — had been vacated by Ghous Bux Mahar, Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, Sardar Salim Jan Mazari, Liaquat Ali Jatoi and Ayaz Shah Sheerazi respectively.

A tough competition is expected in almost all constituencies. The main rivals are the PML-Q led alliance and the PPP-MMA alliance.

The administrations of respective constituencies have made elaborate arrangements to ensure peace during the polls and certain special measures have also been taken to avoid any untoward incident like one on Sunday in NA-242 Karachi. Rangers units have been deployed to help police maintain law and order.

Justice Muhammad Ashraf Leghari, a member of the Election Commission, would be visiting various polling stations in Karachi and Thatta constituencies.

NA-242: The NA-242 Karachi was vacated by Rauf Siddiqui of Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

In this constituency, the Election Commission has set up 185 polling stations for more than 222,000 voters. These polling stations would be supervised by the Returning Officer, Mrs Nasim Mansoor.

Though the constituency is regarded as one dominated by Muttahida’s sympathisers, there are six candidates seeking the seat and whereas a tough competition is expected between Dr Abdul Quader Khanzada of MQM and Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui of MMA.

Dr Khanzada enjoys support of Awami National Party as it has already withdrawn its candidate, Dr Muhammad Hanif, in favour of the MQM candidate. Dr Huda has gained support of the PPP which has withdrawn its candidate, Ruhjanullah Afridi, in favour of the MMA candidate. The PML-N, which has not fielded its candidate, has also come out with moral support to the MMA.

The Sunni Tehreek has already withdrawn its candidate, Dr Qadeer Ahmad Abbasi, due to the alleged violation of certain directives of the Election Commission. Yet another candidate is Shahabuddin (independent).

NA-201: The NA-201 Ghotki was vacated by the Chief Minister, Ali Muhammad Mahar. The main rivals here are Ali Nawaz Khan Mahar of PML-Q and Abdul Latif Shah of PPP. Another candidate, Muhammad Yaqub, is an independent.

NA-216: In NA-216 Khairpur, vacated by Pir Syed Sadruddin Shah Rashdi alias Yunus Sain, there are 10 aspirants in the field but the main rivals are Syed Javed Ali Shah of PML-F and Pir Syed Ahmad Raza Shah of PPP. The others — Arbab Shahid Bhanban, Pir S. Muhammad Naqi Shah, Niaz Hussain Shah, Syed Mohib Ali Shah, Syed Mohram Ali Shah, Sher Muhammad Phulpoto, Ghulam Abbas Kubar and Mobin Ahmad Phulpoto — are independent candidates.

PA SEATS: The PS-10 Shikarpur (Lakhi), which has been vacated by the Federal Minister for Railway, Ghous Bux Mahar, is the only constituency where a direct contest between the PML-Q candidate, Faiz Muhammad Mahar, and the PPP nominee, Abdul Quadir Chahchar, is being held.

The PS-12 Shikarpur (Khanpur), vacated by Dr Ibrahim Jatoi of the National Alliance, is to see a contest between NA candidate, Abid Hussain Jatoi, and the PPP candidate, Osaid Ahmad Soomro. Three other candidates in the run are Allauddin of MMA, and independents, Lal Hussain and Muzaffar Ali Jatoi.

The PS-18 Jacobabad (Kashmor) seat was vacated by Sardar Salim Jan Mazari. There are six independent candidates contesting against Tariq Shaikh alias Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh who is the nominee of the National Alliance and enjoys support of the PML-Q-led alliance. Among his rivals, was Ghalib Domki, once a minister in PPP government. Mr Domki had filed his nomination papers as independent candidate and had the support of the chief minister of Sindh. However, he decided to retire from the contest following pressure on the CM from powerful quarters. The other candidates are Aijaz Solangi, Zafarullah Khan Domki, Abdul Rasool Kilwar, Abdul Ghafoor Mazari and Ali Jan Mazari.

In PS-76 Dadu (Mahar), vacate by the Federal Minister for Production, Liaquat Ali Jatoi, his brother Ehsan Ali Jatoi of PML-Q is in a very strong position. However, Haji Zafar Ali Leghari of PPP is still regarded as the toughest rival among four other candidates. The other three independent candidates are Dr Asad Ali Leghari, Ali Asghar Jatoi and Muhammad Amin Jamali.

The PS-86 Thatta (Mirpur Bathoro) was vacated by Ayaz Shah Sheerazi. The main rivals here are Engineer Syed Sarfraz Shah Sheerazi of PML-Q and Arbab Wazir Ahmad Memon of PPP. The other two candidates, Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro and Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah Sheerazi, are independents.