More than 277,000 voters of PS-9 Shikarpur-III, one of the three provincial assembly constituencies of district Shikarpur, are set to elect their new representative on December 14, 2025. The key contest is likely to be between Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) candidate Agha Shahbaz Durrani and the Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam Pakistan (JUIP) candidate Rushdullah Shah.
What prompted this by-election?
The by-election in the constituency is being held due to the passing of Agha Siraj Khan Durrani. Mr. Durrani won this seat in the General Elections 2024 (GE-2024), securing 63,760 votes, which constituted 61 percent of the total polled votes in the constituency. He served as the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh for two consecutive terms from 2013 to 2023.
What areas does this constituency comprise?
The constituency primarily comprises taluka Garhi Yasin, along with certain tapedar circles of taluka Lakhi including Murree, Jhal Kalwari, and Jehan Khan and a portion of taluka Shikarpur. It is a predominantly a rural constituency with some urban neighborhoods.
The urban areas include mohallas Abbasi, Shams Memon, Hindu, Bhatta, Jamal Shah, Syed, Rajput, Qazi, Mangi, Mandanpur, Eidgah, Shahi Bazar, Juneja, and Mirani.
The rural areas include Miani, Hameed Jagar, Vahni, Fazalabad, Salar, Amir Shah, Qabul, Kot Habib, Samand Kot, Mandho Kalhoro, Murad Anar, Ehsan Wah, Rahim Wah, and Jam Paro, along with other rural parts of taluka Garhi Yasin.
Who are the key contenders in these constituencies?
According to the final list of contesting candidates (Form-33), nine candidates are in the run for the constituency with PPPP awarding its ticket to Agha Shahbaz Durrani, the son of late Agha Siraj Durrani.
The Durrani family has dominated the district’s electoral politics for decades. According to the Sindh Assembly’s records, Agha Badruddin Khan Durrani, uncle of Agha Siraj Durrani’s uncle, served as Speaker from 1949 to 1951. Agha Sadruddin Khan Durrani, father of Agha Siraj, also served briefly as Speaker in 1977.
Agha Siraj himself contested elections ten times since 1988 and won seven of them. He was runner-up in the 2002 and 2007 elections.
The runner-up of GE-2024 Rushdullah Shah is contesting again as JUI-P candidate. In GE-2024, Mr. Rashdullah Shah of JUI-P was the runner-up, securing around 25 percent of the total polled votes. while Israr Ahmed contested as an independent candidate.
Among other candidates, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has awarded its ticket to Israr Ahmed. The remaining six are independents including Agha Imtiaz Ali who is backed by PTI, Agha Ali Khan and Agha Mir Mustafa, Abdul Karim, Abdullah and Muhammad Tayyab.
What has changed since GE-2024?
Since GE-2024, the number of registered voters in PS-9 has increased from 263,682 to 277,792, reflecting a five percent rise. A total of 178 polling stations has been established in the constituency for the December 14 by-election, including 49 male, 49 female, 80 combined, and 13 improvised polling stations. The number of polling stations remains the same as those established for GE-2024.
Stay tuned to our website for more on this by-election.
