PESHAWAR: The polling for PK-8 Peshawar-VIII seat will be held today (Thursday) under the army’s supervision.
With the constituency consisting of suburban areas, around 136,508 voters will take part in the electoral exercise.
All government schools located in the constituency will remain closed as polling stations have been established there.
The Election Commission of Pakistan had sought the deployment of the army’s troops inside and outside polling stations to maintain law and order from the start of the elections until the consolidation of results by the returning officers.
The polling will start at 8am and will continue until 5pm.
The seat was fallen vacant on Mar 16 due to the death of PML-N MPA Arbab Akbar Hayat Khan.
Fifteen candidates are in the running.
Among them are Asif Iqbal Daudzai of JUI-F, Arbab Waseem of PML-N, Ijaz Ahmad of ANP, Shehzad Khan of PTI and a PPP candidate.
Besides, 10 independent candidates are also contesting the election. According to the ECP, male and female voters in the constituency total 60,648 and 55,860 respectively.
At 98 polling stations, 257 polling booths have been set up. Thirty-nine polling stations have been declared the most sensitive, 48 sensitive and 11 normal.
Around 5,400 policemen will be deployed in the constituency to maintain law and order.
According to a home department statement, the army contingents will be present at every polling station.
“All kinds of arms and explosive material will not be allowed in and outside polling stations. Section 144 has been imposed in this effect. All arrangements for the election have been completed,” it said, adding that those firing in the air after the elections would be dealt with strictly.
In the 2013 general elections, the seat was won by PML-N, while JUI-F’s Asif Iqbal and PPP’s Malik Tahmash stood second and third respectively.
PTI claims to have mustered up support of Jamaat-i-Islami, Qaumi Watan Party, PML-Q candidates along with an independent contestant.
Asif Iqbal has also claimed support of an independent candidate. Though it is a provincial assembly seat, all political parties gave extraordinary importance to the by-polls there.
PTI chairman Imran Khan addressed a public meeting in the area to support the party’s candidate, while leaders of other parties too took part in the campaigns of their respective candidates.
