December 29, 2005	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 26, 1426

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 28: The ruling PML-backed candidate Afzal Khokhar was on Thursday elected as district naib nazim without any fight with his ARD-backed rival Ziaullah Shah, who was kidnapped on Wednesday night by “unidentified men”.

Mr Khokhar bagged 180 votes out of the total 256 by show of hands, while Mr Shah could get only two votes.

Additional Sessions Judge Ch Imtiaz presided over the electoral process. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sh Rashid Ahmed, Punjab Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Raja Basharat, Advisor to the Punjab chief minister Raja Nasir and City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas were also present on the occasion.

About 80 councillors of the joint opposition boycotted the election process in protest against what they called the show of hands by “irrelevant people” in favour of the government-backed candidate without showing their identity cards.

People gathered at the Gordon College — the venue of the final phase of the Local Bodies election — were whispering about the mysterious kidnapping of Ziaullah Shah, who had claimed a landslide in the election just a day before the contest.

When City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas was contacted for comments on the kidnapping of the opposition candidate, he said: “It is nothing but a drama, as he was fearing his failure in the one to one contest.”

Mr Ikhlas said he would soon unveil the kidnapping drama. “He had no influence and no votes to defeat our candidate,” he maintained.

The ruling party-backed candidate, Farooq Azam, was elected as naib nazim of Rawal Town defeating his rivals Sohail Pasha and Assad Mughal.

Mr Azam got 38 votes, Sohail Pasha bagged 16 votes and Assad Mughal got 10 votes. Both Sohail Pasha and Assad Mughal belong to the PPP.

Yaqoob Malik from Attock adds: The ruling PML-backed Khattar Group candidates won all the six seats of tehsil naib nazims and one district naib nazim on Wednesday.

As per unofficial results, Muhammad Ashraf of Khattar Group won the seat of Pindigheb naib nazim by bagging 36 votes, while his opponent Ataul Mustafa Jameel bagged only three votes.

Sada Hussain Shah of Khattar Group was elected unopposed as Hasanabdal naib nazim.

Hameed Asghar from Gujar Khan adds: Councillor Ibrar Rashid was elected unopposed as town naib nazim after withdrawal of nomination papers by Naib Nazim Union Council Krunb Ilyas, Maj (retd) Aqeel Raza.

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