Election activities for the 2024 general elections are underway in Balochistan. In Kachhi,  the election campaign has begun following the collection of candidates' nomination papers.

Located 41 kilometres south of Quetta, Kachhi district (formerly Bolan) spans an area of 5,682 square kilometres. The pass extends from Bolan and the Kolpur railway station, culminating in the expansive plains below.In the last general elections, Kachhi was merged with Naseerabad and Jhal Magsi districts to form a national constituency. From this constituency (NA-260), the current head of Balochistan Awami Party, Khalid Magsi, was elected Member of Assembly.

Sardar Yar Muhammad Rand was the candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and he came second. While 12 thousand 930 votes were rejected in this constituency.

According to the new digital census, the total population of district Kachhi is four lakh 42 thousand 612.

The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) initial report states that Kachhi and none of the five surrounding districts could have a separate National Assembly seat due to low population. That is why two national seats, NA-254 and NA-255, have been formed by combining Naseerabad, Jhal Magsi, Kachhi, Jafarabad, Austa Muhammad and Sohbatpur.

Thus, district Kachhi has been included in National Assembly Constituency NA-254, named 'Jhal Magsi-cum-Kachhi-cum-Naseerabad'.

New Constituencies 2023

2018 National Assembly Constituency NA 260 Naseerabad Kum Kuchi Kum Jhal Magsi is now NA 254 Naseerabad Kum Kuchi Kum Jhal Magsi
This constituency consists of District Jhal Magsi, District Kachhi and District Naseerabad. Under the new constituencies, Tehsil Dera Murad Jamali of Nasirabad district has been removed from this constituency.

Provincial Constituency PB 12 Kuchi
This new constituency comprises the areas of District Kutchhi. According to the 2023 constituencies, district Kutchhi has been given a new constituency. whose areas were earlier divided into Mastung and Jhal Magsi constituencies. Now they have become separate constituencies.

This national constituency consists of Kachhi, Jhal Magsi, Tehsil Tambo, Babakot and Landhi of Naseerabad district.

The number of registered votes here is 3 lakh 24 thousand 739, of which one lakh 79 thousand 411 male and one lakh 45 thousand 328 female voters.

Khalid Hussain Magsi BAP, Yar Muhammad Rind Azad, Mir Humayun Kurd Azad, Mir Abdul Rauf Lahri from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Mir Siraj Imrani and Balu Amin Imrani from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Yasmin Lahri from National Party are candidates for this seat in the upcoming elections.

Wali Muhammad Zahri knows the politics of Balochistan's Green Belt (Kachhi, Jhal Magsi, Naseerabad, Austa Muhammad). He says that due to the tribal system and fear, all of the votes from the Jhal Magsi district (except for a few) go to Khalid Magsi without reservation.

Similarly, Sunny Shoran's vote goes to Sardar Yar Muhammad.

Khalid Magsi comes from the Jhal Magsi area of Naseerabad and belongs to the most influential Magsi family of Naseerabad. His elder brother, Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi, is the chief of the Magsi tribe and was the former governor of Balochistan.

Many members of the Magsi family have been part of the National Assembly, Senate and Provincial Assembly and Jhal Magsi and Kachhi have been winning National Assembly seats continuously.

Khalid Magsi was elected MNA on PML-N's ticket in 2013 and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP)'s ticket in 2018. Currently, he is participating in the elections as the Central President of BAP.

Wali Muhammad says that the influence of Mir Abdul Ghafoor Lahri is more in the areas of Naseerabad included in this constituency. Khalid Magsi is trying to unite with them; on the other hand, Yar Muhammad Rind is negotiating with the local leadership of the National League and PPP regarding the electoral alliance.

Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind belongs to Sunny Shoran area of Kutch. He is the head of the Rind clan and his family has complete influence in most areas of Kachhi. He started politics as the Chairman of Zilla Council Kachhi. Since 1985, he has been a part of the Senate, National Assembly and Provincial Assembly many times.

In 2019, PTI Balochistan President and Member of Provincial Assembly Sardar Yar Muhammad RInd was appointed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister. Later, he became the provincial education minister.

"In Jhal Magsi, Lashari, Magsi and Jamot are the majority, while in Naseerabad, Imrani, Lahri, Jamali, Rind, Jamot and Khosa tribes are the majority. Similarly, Rind, Bengalzai, Samalani, Kurd, Jamot, Khosa, Shahwani, Chhalgri, Jatoi, Mughiri and Mastoi tribes are prominent in the Kachhi district.

Wali Muhammad says that here, the candidate depends more on the votes of the region and tribe under his influence. Currently, the competition for this national seat will be between Magsi and Rind Sardars.

Provincial Constituency PB 12

In 2017, the population of Kachhi district was three lakh nine thousand and 932 people. In the previous elections, the Dasht area of Mastung district adjacent to Kachhi was merged to form provincial constituency PB-17 (Kuchchi less Mastung).

From here, Yar Muhammad Rind was elected MPA on the PTI ticket, and BAP's Mir Asim Kurd Gallo was second.

In the new constituencies, according to the ECP formula, the Kachhi district's share in the provincial assembly was 1.52 seats in terms of population. But only one seat has been allocated to this region, and the entire district has been declared a provincial constituency.

The total number of registered voters in PB-12 Kachhi is one lakh 47 thousand 474, of which 84 thousand 161 are male and 63 thousand 313 are female voters.

Candidates of PPP, BAP, Balochistan National Party (BNP), JUI, Sardar Yar Muhammad RInd, and Mir Asim Kurd of PML-N have intensified their election activities for this seat for the upcoming general elections.

Yar Muhammad Rind started his election campaign from Bhagnadi as an independent candidate at the invitation of local elders. PML-N candidate Mir Asim Kurd, BAP's Muhammad Yunus Samalani and PPP’s Maula Bakhsh Raheja have started their election activities from Machh.

Wali Muhammad says that the people here neither give importance to the party's election manifesto nor to the party. Therefore, the common man remains indifferent to the election process, and the turnout is always low in these areas.

Social activist Imran Samalani says that Yar Muhammad Rand had fought on the banner of PTI in the previous election, but now he is participating as an independent candidate.

Similarly, Mir Asim Kurd was a BAP candidate last time, but now he is contesting on the lion sign.

"Here, the votes are cast based on the rank and stick of the Sardar or Mir. The more powerful a tribal figure is, the more likely he is to win. Whichever party Sardar Yar Muhammad and Mir Asim Kurd are a part of, the common people will also be in the same party.”

He says that the National Party, JUI and their candidates are somewhat active in this area. Both have vote bank in Dhadar and Mutch but not enough to influence the results of the entire constituency.

Imran Samalani says that Yar Muhammad Rind has an advantage over Mir Asim Kurd in this provincial seat because his son Sardar Bibrag Rind is the district chairman of Kachhi district and is very active in the area.

Jameel Ahmed is a resident of Darkhan Dhader area of Kachhi. He says that few people here look at the candidate's performance; otherwise, most prefer the traditions of their clan. That is why votes are cast not based on party or ideology but on personal relationships.

However, Dr Tahir Mastoi, a resident of Dhader, has a different opinion. He says that the representative who works for the betterment of the region and the people gets the vote.

District Kachhi comprises five Tehsils: Dhadar, Machh, Bhag, Bala Nadi and Sunny. The district headquarters 'Dhadar' used to be the winter capital of Kalat state. But the scattered population in all these areas faces numerous problems and most people are deprived of even basic facilities.

Non-availability of drinking water, scarcity of water for agricultural lands, dilapidated roads, unemployment, non-rehabilitation of flood-damaged properties and closure of Coal Mines are the region's major problems.

According to Imran Samalani, the common people of Kachhi are disappointed. Most people, especially the educated youth here, say that the election is a 'status' issue of the Sardars and Mirs here. They have nothing to do with people's problems.