30 pc rise in Pakistan’s non-Muslim voters

Lahore: The number of voters belonging to Pakistan’s religious minorities has risen to 3.63 million from the 2.77 million registered in electoral rolls for the last general election in 2013, an increase of 30% in five years with the Hindus at 1.77 million maintaining their majority among the religious minority electorate, authorities said ahead of the July 25 general elections.

According to The Express Tribune which cited data released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The Christian community is at the second spot with 1.64 million voters followed by the Ahmadi community with 167,505 registered voters.

According to the report, the number of Hindu voters before 2013 polls was 1.40 million. Hindu voters make up the largest chunk with 1.77 million voters, with the majority of them settled in Sindh, where 40 per cent reside in Umar Kot and Tharparkar districts.

Similarly, a large number of Christians are in Punjab. However, there are over 200,000 Christian voters in Sindh’s different district, especially in Karachi. The Baha’i community has 31,543 registered voters.

In Pakistan, the number of registered Sikh voters stands at 8,852; Parsis at 4,235 and Buddhists at 1,884.

A triangular contest between the governing PML-N led by prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan’s PTI and former president Asif Ali Zardari’s PPP is on the cards.

Siasat Web Team