February 12, 2008	Tuesday	Safar 04 ,1429

BAHAWALPUR, Feb 11: The election scene here has changed a lot after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, with the public anticipating a sympathy wave for the PPP. However, it remains to be seen whether the voters will deviate from the clan loyalty on Feb 18.

The district politics, on the other hand, continues to be dominated by the rival groups of Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi and district nazim Tariq Cheema who are supporting their candidates and making hectic efforts to ensure their victory.

With all the five National Assembly seats likely to see close contests, all eyes are on NA-187 (Bahawalpur-V) where former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi faces PML-N’s Chaudhry Saood Majid and PPP’s Iftikhar Cheema.

The constituency which falls in Yazman tehsil is yet to elect a native. Sahibzada Farooq Anwar Abbasi won it during the Zia regime, PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan bagged the seat in 2002 and Syed Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi was elected as an independent candidate in the by-election.

It is supposed to be the constituency of district nazim Tariq Cheema on whose invitation Ch Pervaiz Elahi is contesting from here. The thickly-populated constituency is dominated by Jatt and Arain clans. Tariq Cheema has a sizeable vote-bank in both the clans, besides having influence on the Seraiki-speaking natives.

Since Ch Pervaiz has the backing of the district and tehsil nazims, his rivals claim that official resources are being used in his campaign.

PML-N’s Saood Majid who lost in 2002 has since remained in touch with his electorate and has good support among the Arain biradari. He is also being supported by Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi.

PPP’s Iftikhar Cheema who lacks support of powerful groups may not be able to win the seat even with the sympathy vote.

Another interesting fight is in NA-185 (Bahawalpur-III), comprising city areas, where the race is between three ex-MNAs, Sahibzada Farooq Anwar Abbasi of PML-Q, Farooq Azam Malik of PPP and Baleeghur Rehman of PML-N. Baleegh’s entry into the race was rather late but now most of the city traders and shopkeepers are supporting the PML-N. The sympathy vote here will go to Malik Farooq Azam.

Sahibzada Farooq Anwar Abbasi, who has his own contacts in the constituency, faced some tough time when his banners, hoardings and posters were torn down after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.