Larkana by-election: GDA candidate Moazzam Abbasi retains his seat

SUKKUR: Grand National Alliance (GDA) candidate Moazzam Abbasi retained his seat for the second time by defeating PPP candidate Jamil Ahmed Soomro on Thursday.

According to unofficial reports, GDA candidate Moazzam Abbasi secured 29,321 votes while PPP candidate Jamil Ahmed Soomro 26,329 votes.

It’s worth mentioning that in last year’s general elections GDA’s Moazzam Ali Khan had secured 32, 178 votes, while PPP’s Nida Khuhro had bagged 21,811 votes. The by-election process at PS-11 Larkana completed amid tight security. It was not mere a by-election but activities and political enthusiasm seemed that of general elections.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had held meetings with stakeholders of the PPP and supporters, including PML-N to get his candidate Jamil Ahmed Soomro elected. There was winning vote at this constituency with the JUI-F. Although, the JUI-F was a part of joint opposition but at this constituency, the JUI-F local leadership had supported the GDA backed candidate Mozzam Khan Abbasi. During the poll process, law enforcement agencies and police were on high alert at 20 most sensitive polling stations and the rest of 138 polling stations. PPP candidate Jamil Ahmed Soomro observed a sit-in when he was stopped from meeting the District Returning Officer (DRO) in his office, Later, he ended the sit-in when he was allowed to meet the DRO.

Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari while reacting on the defeat of PPP candidate Jamil Soomro in bye-elections in Larkana from GDA candidate Moazzam Abbassi posted a tweet on his Twitter account that the PPP will challenge this ‘rigging’ at every forum as the truth can’t be hidden and will expose this selection. In a series of tweet, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he was proud of PPP workers for fighting an honorable election despite immense pressure from the establishment. Bilawal tweets, "Our candidate wasn’t even allowed inside polling stations. We kept asking ECP to intervene but its mala fide intent was apparent in its silence. Despite all this political engineering PPP has reduced the GDA/JUIF/PTI+???? lead by 5,000 votes in less than a year."