The rigging at polls is part of the elections in most democracies, at some places less and at others more. So it's no great surprise that even when at the end of the day, the May 11 general election was the fairest in Pakistan it was also the most contentious. Hence, contenders' calls for re-polling and recounting at some of the constituencies. That among them a particular constituency in Karachi should hog more spotlight, with the contestants' top leaders chipping in their specific standpoints is essentially because of the media's easy reach to what has turned out to be battlefield NA-250. Much chaos was there to be witnessed from the word go. Thousands of voters had queued up at the polling booths since morning, but quite a few of these couldn't come into operation because either the ballot papers had not reached or the polling staff was absent.
It was too obvious and clearly visible to the naked eye that the fairness of the polls was doubtful from the very beginning. Ideally, the election authorities should have cancelled the exercise, but it was not done and instead the voting time was extended. So we have these chickens coming home to roost. While both PTI and MQM demanded a re-poll in the whole constituency. The ECP, after due consideration has ordered a re-poll at 43 polling stations for which it has received evidence of irregularities and handicaps in voting. Furthermore, other parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), are demanding a re-election in the entire city of Karachi and JI had announced a boycott of polls at around noon on the polling day.
However, the saga of the Battlefield NA-250 doesn't end here. To it there are two other equally significant dimensions: the law and order situation in and around the contested seat and the unremitting heat and hype the failed polling has generated. Despite the army commitment to secure peace at the polling stations, for some reason the provincial government feels inadequate to take the challenge of securing the entire constituency if warranted, and it has duly conveyed its position to the Election Commission. That the MQM leadership had to go overboard in support of its position is a bit upsetting if not embarrassing to Nine Zero. Soon enough to be revised and moderated, Altaf Hussain seemingly lost control over his expression and not only threatened 'my way or the highway' option but also showed eyes to the 'rebellious' media. Now that he has clarified his comments, profusely apologised to the media and unreservedly congratulated the political rivals Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, hopefully this is all over. As to how he would be dealing with his hosts in the United Kingdom where the Metropolitan Police is said to have received a large number of phone calls and emails seeking action against him for his Teen-Talwar speech which they insisted was an offence under the British law, we will learn in due course. In Pakistan too, this aspect of the Battlefield NA-250 has played out rather forcefully - amply demonstrated in the letter former naval chief Admiral Afzal Tahir wrote to the British High Commissioner Adam Thomson demanding action against Altaf Hussain for "inciting rebellion against a sovereign country". But not much is expected out of it given that Altaf Hussein's prompt clarification over his contested remark and the British envoy's position that the MQM chief is no more 'maintaining' his reported stance.
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