Skardu by-election: Polling concludes at 61 stations amid tight security

GILGIT: Polling concluded at all 61 polling stations in the GBA-09 (Skardu-III) constituency amid tight security. Polling had begun at 8am and continued until 5pm.

State broadcaster PTV said 33,985 voters would exercise their right to franchise, adding that special security arrangement had been made for the occasion.

A local holiday was declared in the constituency. According to the notification issued by the Skardu district magistrate, the holiday was declared to “facilitate eligible voters in exercising their right to franchise and to ensure the smooth and peaceful conduct of polls”.

The by-election was announced by the Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission after the GB Supreme Appellate Court disqualified PPP candidate Fida Muhammad Nashad, who had been declared a returned candidate in the June general elections.

Nashad’s son, Akhtar Abbas, is contesting the election on PPP’s ticket, while Mohammad Ajmal is contesting from the PML-N. Former minister Mohammad Saleem, who is contesting as an independent, is also among 10 candidates who have filed their nomination papers.

Analysts said a close contest was expected between PPP’s Abbas and independent candidate Saleem. They said Abbas could retain his father’s vote bank and may benefit from public sympathy following Nashad’s disqualification by the GB Supreme Appellate Court.

District Returning Officer (DRO) Hamza Murad told Dawn on Friday that GBA-09 had 61 polling stations, of which 25 had been declared sensitive under Category A, 11 had been placed in Category B as medium-sensitive, and 25 had been classified as normal under Category C.