PPP's victory in PS-81 by-polls goes unnoticed amid Panama episode

SANGHAR - Pakistan Peoples Party secured a rare history in PS-81 (Sanghar) by-polls as Jam Madad Ali defeated a candidate pitched by his former political party, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.

According to unofficial results, Jam Madad Ali secured more than 35,900 votes against PML-F’s Jam Nafees Ali Khan, who got 26,401 votes but the Panama fever gripped the whole nation yesterday and majority of the masses did not pay heed to PPP's unexpected triumph.

The polling for the vacant seat of Sindh Assembly started at 8:00 am and continued till 5:00 pm without any formal break.

A total of 16 candidates were in the run for the by-elections but political analysts expected a cut-throat tussle between the 'Jam' duo.

According to Election Commission  officials, the constituency was divided into four sub-divisions -Sinjhoro, Sindhuri, Sanghar and Jam Nawaz Ali – and a total of around 139,000 voters were registered. “A total 122 polling stations are in this area and not a single one is ‘normal’. All either are ‘most sensitive’ or ‘sensitive’ polling stations,” said an election commission official.

The provincial assembly seat fell vacant after former PML-F stalwart Jam Madad Ali resigned from his seat in order to join the PPP.