Codeigniter Pagination directs me to 'about:blank#blocked' - php

Question

Codeigniter Pagination doesnt work, the URL changes to 'about:blank#blocked'.
I'm fairly new at php frameworks and codeigniter. I tried to read the documentation but I don't seem to see the problem.
Controller:
class Listing extends CI_Controller {
public function __construct() {
parent::__construct();
}
public function index() {
//Get Total Records Count
$this->db->select("*");
$this->db->from("cities");
if (!empty($_GET['cityFilter'])) {
$this->db->like('city_name', $_GET['cityFilter']);
}
$cityRecordsCount = $this->db->get();
$totalRecords = $cityRecordsCount->num_rows();
$limit = 10;
if (!empty($_GET['cityFilter'])) {
$config["base_url"] = base_url('Listing/index?cityFilter=' . $_GET['cityFilter']);
} else {
$config["base_url"] = base_url('Listing/index?cityFilter=');
}
$config["total_rows"] = $totalRecords;
$config["per_page"] = $limit;
$config['use_page_numbers'] = TRUE;
$config['page_query_string'] = TRUE;
$config['enable_query_strings'] = TRUE;
$config['num_links'] = 2;
$config['cur_tag_open'] = ' <li class="active"><a>';
$config['cur_tag_close'] = '</a></li>';
$config['next_link'] = 'Next';
$config['prev_link'] = 'Previous';
$this->pagination->initialize($config);
$str_links = $this->pagination->create_links();
$links = explode(' ', $str_links);
$offset = 0;
if (!empty($_GET['per_page'])) {
$pageNo = $_GET['per_page'];
$offset = ($pageNo - 1) * $limit;
}
//Get actual result from all records with pagination
$this->db->select("*");
$this->db->from("cities");
if (!empty($_GET['cityFilter'])) {
$this->db->like('city_name', $_GET['cityFilter']);
}
$this->db->limit($limit, $offset);
$cityRecords = $this->db->get();
$this->load->view('listCities', array(
'totalResult' => $totalRecords,
'results' => $cityRecords->result(),
'links' => $links
));
}
}
HTML
<div id="container">
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 col-lg-8 col-lg-offset-2 col-sm-12">
<h1>Pagination With Search.</h1>
<p>A demo for Codeigniter 2.X framework</p>
<br>
<form action="" method="GET">
<div class="input-group pull-right">
<input type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Search For City"
name="cityFilter" value="<?php
if (!empty($_GET['cityFilter'])) {
echo $_GET['cityFilter'];
}
?>">
<span class="input-group-btn">
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-success"><i class="fa fa-search"></i> Search</button>
</span>
</div>
</form>
<table class="table table-bordered table-hover" border="1">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>#</th>
<th>City Name</th>
<th>City State</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<?php
foreach ($results as $o) {
?>
<tr>
<td><?php echo $o->city_id; ?></td>
<td><?php echo $o->city_name; ?></td>
<td><?php echo $o->city_state; ?></td>
</tr>
<?php }
?>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
</tfoot>
</table>
<ul class="pagination pull-right">
<!-- Show pagination links -->
<?php
foreach ($links as $link) {
echo "<li>" . $link . "</li>";
}
?>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
It shows a blank page and the URL changes to 'about:blank#blocked'. What am I doing wrong?