KARACHI, July 26: The Pakistan Peoples party on Tuesday accused the ruling coalition parties of allegedly sending their armed hoodlums to the residences of candidates of the Awam Dost panel to force them to submit withdrawals or face dire consequences.
The PPP monitoring committee for the upcoming local bodies’ election alleged that in Karachi, in UC 7, Saddar Town, these elements went to the houses of Awam Dost candidate for councillor, Hameeda Iqbal and Zainab, candidate for labour seat, and threatened them to withdraw.
Tension continued in the sensitive locality of Khajji Ground, where Awam Dost candidate for Nazim Dr Ibrahim and his wife were earlier stopped by alleged terrorists of the majority party in Sindh’s ruling coalition on the day of filing nomination papers outside court No 6.
Head of the PPP monitoring committee and former senator Taj Haider alleged that these elements had also been threatening Nusrat Sultana, Awam Dost candidate for labour seat, Syed Mohammad Hassan Naqi and Abdul Rashid, candidates for general councillor seats.
They went to the house of Syed Mohammad Hassan Naqi with the withdrawal form and demanded that he sign it.
The situation in Ghotki was getting from bad to worse where an appeal had been lodged against the Awam Dost candidate for Nazim in UC 2 Ghotki, Teekam Das, whose papers had been accepted.
On the eve of the hearing date, Teekam Das was allegedly abducted by the police making it impossible for him to appear at the hearing of the appeal against him.
In UC-1 Ghotki, Awam Dost candidate for Nazim Zufikar Gadani was also allegedly kidnapped making it impossible for him to appear for the hearing of an appeal filed against him.
Similarly, naib-nazim of UC Mithri Mir Hassan Chachar was kidnapped. An appeal was filed against him stating that some electricity dues were outstanding against his father.
The most alarming rigging in Ghotki district was the preparation of additional lists on about 30 polling stations. These lists contain about 300-400 names each while no identity card numbers have been given against these names.
In Thar, an FIR for obstructing government functionaries in carrying out their “duties” has been registered in UC Kaloi against PPP activist Mohammad Khan Loond and his son Aziz Khan.
