KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday conducted the first phase of the local government elections in 14 districts of Sindh.

According to the ECP spokesperson, the commission made adequate arrangements to hold these elections in a free, fair, and transparent manner.

The polling was started at 8:00 am and continued at 5:00 pm without any break while additional time was given to only those polling stations where the polling process was stopped on the request of political parties leaders for various reasons.

According to unofficial results, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) took a lead in the first phase of the local bodies elections.

The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) stood second, followed by independent candidates. They were followed by PTI and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

The MQM-P boycotted the elections in Mirpurkhas citing low voter turnout and accusation of rigging. MQM leader Waseem Akhtar claimed that dacoits stole ballot papers and accused the ECP of mismanaging the polls.

There were a several incidents of sporadic violence reported across the province. In Tando Adam, two people including the brother of a PTI candidate were killed and at least 20 people were injured in clashes outside various polling stations.

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There were also reports of a clash between voters of PPP and PTI at polling station Allah Jurio Jaghirani of Union Council Panhwari in Rohri. In Nawabshah, people attacked the social security polling station and held the polling staff hostage, while seven polling staffers were abducted in the Kandhkot area of Kashmore.

A clash also took place between two political parties in UC Trihmar in Tharpark District. The son of PTI leader Arbab Ghulam Rahim was also attacked. In Naushero Feroze, at least four people were killed and the voting process was stopped temporarily when clashes erupted between two rival groups.

A total of 9,023 polling stations were established including 1,910 male, 1,895 female, 5,218 joint, and 224 improvised polling stations for 11304860 registered voters in 14 districts.

The ECP’s spokesperson said foolproof security arrangements were made while Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja personally monitored the election process.

Similarly, special instructions were issued by the CEC to district monitoring officers and monitoring teams to remain vigilant while security agencies were directed to maintain peace during the election process.

The 14 districts of Sindh where LG polls were held included Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, and Tharparkar.

Elections in the rest of the districts including Karachi and Hyderabad will be held on July 24.