QUETTA, (DNA) –  The polling for by-election for Balochistan Assembly seat PB-26 has been underway in Quetta on Monday amid strict security measures.

The polling will be continued without any break till 5:00 PM, the election commission said.

The seat had fallen vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan had declared Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) member Ahmed Kohzad as disqualified for being a foreign national.

Kohzad was elected from PB-26 in the 2018 general elections by defeating a candidate of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F).

The rival candidates had challenged the Pakistani citizenship of Kohzad.

According to the election commission, 18 candidates have been in the field. But the main contest is expected between Qadir Nail of the HDP, Maulana Wali Turabi of the JUI-F and Syed Mohammad Raza of the Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen.

Earlier the provincial election commission, handed over the election material to presiding officers of 49 polling stations in the constituency, where 57675 registered voters would cast their votes.

All polling stations in PB-26 have been declared sensitive and nine of them very sensitive.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been imposed in the constituency and no one, except police and Frontier Corps personnel, will be allowed to carry weapons.

The contingents of police and FC have been deployed in the polling stations and army troops will help them in case of any untoward situation.