UMERKOT – Low turn out was reported early morning on Thursday in by-election to Umerkot’s National Assembly constituency NA-213.
Polling started at 8:00 am and will continue till 5:00 pm without any break.
A tough contest is expected between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Saba Talpur and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Lal Chand Malhi, who is backed by the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). Saba Talpur is widow of the late Nawab Yousaf Talpur and mother of provincial legislator Taimur Talpur.
There are 608,997 registered voters in the constituency for whom 498 polling stations have been established. Out of the 498 polling stations set up across the constituency, 269 have been declared sensitive and 91 highly sensitive.
A public holiday has been declared in Umerkot district on April 17. The seat fell vacant due to the death of PPP leader Nawab Yousuf Talpur. In February 2024 electoins, Talpur defeated Malhi by a big margin. He polled 179,188 votes while Malhi bagged 38,648 votes and was third. PML-N’s Mir Amanullah Khan Talpur was second with 44,961 votes.
Umarkot has been a PPP stronghold. Rana Chandra Singh, a former federal minister and the Hindu chieftain, who was one of the founders of the PPP, was elected to the National Assembly from Umarkot seven times as a PPP member between 1977 and 1999.
Umarkot is 309 kilometres from Sindh capital Karachi and 114 kilometres from Hyderabad.
