NA-249 Karachi by-poll: Sindh announces public holiday on Thursday

KARACHI: Sindh government on Tuesday announced a public holiday on April 29 (Thursday) in NA-249 Karachi constituency due to by-elections, ARY News reported.

As per the notification issued by the provincial government, April 29 will be a public holiday in NA-249 Karachi constituency on account of a by-election to facilitate the voters to cast their votes.

The arrangements for the by-polls in the constituency have been finalized by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The by-poll in the constituency is scheduled for April 29 and the electioneering in the constituency will culminate at midnight of 27 and 28 April.

There are a total of 339,591 registered voters in the constituency which include 201,656 male and 137,935 female voters.

276 polling stations consisting of 796 polling booths have also been established.

In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, the ECP earlier has asked the Karachi administration to appoint healthcare staff during the NA-249 by-election in order to effectively implement COVID SOPs during the polling process.

Read More: NA-249 Karachi by-election: From candidates to promises of water supply – Here’s all you need to know

Major political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League (N), MQM-Pakistan have fielded their candidates for the by elections.

The NA-249 seat had fallen vacant after Faisal Vawda of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) resigned from the National Assembly for his Senate seat.

In the 2018 general elections, Faisal Wawda defeated PML N President Mian Shahbaz Sharif after a tough contest. The PTI won the seat by just 718 votes.