LARKANA, June 28: The Khushhal Pakistan Panel (KPP) which had been ruling Larkana district council for the last three years suffered a defeat here on Saturday when it presented a surplus budget for fiscal 2008-2009.

The budget, presented by KPP-backed district nazim Mohammed Bakhsh Arijo, was rejected with a narrow margin of one vote here on Saturday.

The PPP-backed members (Awam Dost Panel) outnumbered the KPP members during voting. The ADP and SNF-backed members were 29 while the KPP were 28. The SNF-backed members also supported the ADP’s demand of rejecting the budget.

Syed Ali Raza Shah, who presided over the budget session, announced the decision and prorogued the session for an indefinite period.

The District Coordination Officer Larkana Abdul Aziz Uqaili and others attended the meeting.

Those who took part in the debate included ADP members, Chair Mohammad Shaikh, Ali Gopher Bhatt, Bark at Shaikh, Mohammad You Afro, Near Ahmad Bhutto, Aap Naseeban Channa, Munawwar Abro and Ms Khursheed Talat Khatyan (SNF), Badar Abbasi, Babu Sarwar Siyal (KPP) and Iqbal Soomro (JUI).

Criticising the district nazim, the ADP members accused him of ignoring them for three years and also preparing a bogus budget. They were joined by SNF members and voiced against the district government which neglecting them during three years. Badar Abbasi pointed out anomaly in the budget and said that figures reflected in the budget speech and Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) was not tallying.

In his last ditch efforts Babu Sawar Siyal, chief whip of KPP, pressed for allowing him more time to discus the document but the ADP and SNF members sought urgent voting on the budget.

After voting, the convener announced that budget outlay for 2008-2009 was rejected with one vote.