CHITRAL, May 11: A big turnout is being reported by our correspondents from different parts of Chitral, including Chitral town, Drosh, Booni, Reshun, Molkhow, Brep, Yarkhun and Mastuj. It may be recalled that about 56 per cent of voters in Chitral had cast their votes in the 2008 elections. This year, it is expected that the turnout will be over 60 per cent.
They say due to the ban on provision of transport by candidates to their voters, most of the people are coming to and going back from polling stations on foot. The weather in most parts of Chitral is cloudy and party cloudy.
Our correspondent Javeed Farooqi visited a number of polling stations in Molkhow and reported that in Shonu, Muzgol, Nogram and Zani polling stations the JUI workers were active and majority of people he talked to said they had voted for the JUI candidate Hidayatur Rehman. The workers of other political parties in these areas were very negligible in number.
In Mastuj, ChitralToday correspondent Mohammad Javed was outside the polling station set up at the Govt High School Mastuj. He said there were 729 registered voters in the area and out of them 120 were out of Chitral. He said there was long queues of voters both males and females outside the school. Tight security measures have been taken and police, Chitral Scouts and regular Army personnel are patrolling the area. Some local youths have also been recruited for the polling security as security personnel. Assistant commissioners Israr Ahmed and Saleh Ahmed visited the polling station and reviewed security measure. The weather in Mastuj was very pleasant and partly cloudy. In Drosh, ChitralToday correspondent Jahan Zeb Khan reported from Photanian Deh polling station that there was a big rush of people outside and women were also casting their votes.
In Booni, a large number of voters were also seen outside the polling stations and the area was giving a festive look. Talking to ChitralToday in Booni, PTI candidate for PK-90 Rehmat Ghazi Khan said his position in the area was strong. He expressed the hope that he would win the elections. He said he cast his vote in his native village of Charun in the morning and visited Booni and was going to Mulkhow at about 11.30 am. PTI candidate for NA-32 Abdul Lateef was also accompanying him. At the Govt Middle School in Dizg, there was a bid crowd of people outside the polling station and were being allowed in in a queue. People from the nearby areas, including women, were coming to the polling station in a large number.
In the polling stations of Brep, ChitralToday correspondent Islam Shah talked to a number of voters and about 30 per cent of them said they had voted for APML in the National Assembly and PTI in the PK-90 seat. There were also voters of Sikendarul Mulk, Ghulam Mohammad and Sardar Hussain of the PPP. An aged woman told ChitralToday that her son who worked in Lahore had telephoned her and asked her to vote for PTI. It was observed here that young students who have no votes, especially those studying in Chitral town and other cities, have been trying to persuade their parents, especially mothers to vote for Imran Khan.
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