SARGODHA, Aug 21: Despite emergence of 112 new faces as union council nazims in the first phase of local polls in the district, the analysts here foresee no change in local political setup as majority of those elected are, somehow or the other, closely related with the traditional heavyweights.

Out of Sargodha tehsil’s 61 former nazims, only 16 could retain their seats. In Bhalwal tehsil only 10 nazims got re-elected, while from the newly-created Kot Momen tehsil seven retained their slots. Sillanwali and Sahiwal tehsils witnessed return of only six and four former nazims, respectively.

Many women representatives have also got re-elected from various UCs of the district. Robina Mukhtar, an active former councillor, got re-elected with record 1,950 votes. Similarly, Ms Nasreen Warriach, cousin of Chaudhry Tariq Azziz Warriach, principal political secretary to president, has returned as UC 20 nazim in Bhalwal tehsil, with a record lead of 1,800 votes. Earlier, this seat was won by her cousin Hamid Saleem Warriach, who was later elected unopposed as naib-nazim of Sargodha council.

After the announcement of unofficial results, most of the alliances are facing internal differences. First rift was observed in the alliance of Punjab PML vice-president Chaudhry Nasir Muhammad Ali, whose allies, Malik Adnan Hayat Noon, Pir Aminul Hasanat, PML-N’s Mukhtar Ahmed Bhirth, and PML leaders, including MPA Mehr Rab Nawaz Luk, ex-MPA Mehr Ahmed Khan Haral and former naib district nazim Chaudhry Hamid Saleem Warriach, have decided to continue their alliance without Mr Ali till the elections of tehsil and district nazims. He will now have to contact Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema for his survival.

Mr Cheema’s group, which is leading in Sargodha, is closely related with the Punjab chief minister and PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, but his opponents within the party, including Mian Mazhar Qureshi, Kalayar group, Mian Manazir Ali Ranjha and Chaudhry Ghias Ahmed Mela are not willing to accept anyone as tehsil or district nazim from the Cheema group.

Mr Cheema has been working hard to win the support of various nazims and councillors from his rival groups. He has already won the support of Mian Safdar Kalayar and an elder of Kalayar group, Mian Ghulam Ali.

Chaudhry Hamid Saleem Warriach, who had disappeared from the race for district nazim slot during the local polls, was once again being considered a hot favourite for the slot as the anti-Cheema lobby, including PPP and PML-N, seemed inclined to accept him instead of any member of the Cheema family.

At this stage, some of the newly-elected nazims and councillors are looking for some candidate who could offer them a considerable amount so that they could recover the election cost.