An ECP official checking a voter's identity during the PS-114 by-election. Photo: Geo News 

KARACHI: Polling for the PS-114 by-elections began at 8am Sunday and is expected to continue unabated till 5pm.

Apart from the police, around 2,000 Rangers personnel have been deployed in and around the polling stations to ensure the voting process goes smoothly in the hotly contested by-polls.

During a visit to the constituency early Sunday morning, Sindh Rangers DG Maj Gen Mohammad Saeed assured voters to exercise their right of casting the ballot without fear.

There are a total of 193,000 registered voters in the constituency, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The constituency comprises the localities of Mehmoodabad No 1 to Mehmoodabad No 6, Chanesar Goth, Manzoor Colony, Akhter Colony, Azam Basti, Kashmir Colony, Defence View and the KAECHS (Karachi Administration Employees Cooperative Housing Society).

All 92 polling stations of the constituency have been declared ?sensitive? in terms of security.

In a statement, Sindh IG AD Khawaja issued instructions to ensure the polling is carried out in a transparent and impartial manner. He said the relevant SHOs will remain in their areas till the voting is concluded.

The provincial police chief also directed to ensure the implementation of Section 144, which has been imposed in the area in light of the by-election. 

Do-or-die contest 

The by-poll has turned into a do-or-die contest among the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement- Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

In the May 2013 general elections, PS-114 was bagged by Irfanullah Marwat on a PML-N ticket but his victory was declared void by the election tribunal in July 2014.

On May 11, the Supreme Court dismissed Marwat?s appeal challenging the election tribunal?s decision paving the way for the by-polls.

The by-poll campaign took an interesting turn recently when Marwat announced to support the PTI, which has fielded one of its founding members, Haroon.

In the 2013 polls, PML-N?s Marwat bagged 37,130 votes while MQM?s Rauf Siddiqui got 30,305 votes. Moreover, PTI?s Israr Abbasi got 13,807 votes while PPP?s Sajjad Ahmed Pappi only 3,827 votes.