MULTAN, Sept 5: Political bigwigs’ interest in the campaign for the election for the Multan Saddar Tehsil Nazim’s slot has brought vigour to the bout.

The post has been lying vacant for the last one year after the resignation of Syed Ahmad Mujtaba Gilani, who had sacrificed his local-body office to contest the general election.

Mujtaba Gilani, the younger brother of PPP’s Yousaf Raza Gilani, failed to win the election against Haji Sikandar Hayat Bosan, now the state minister for agriculture, on a NA seat.

The polls for the vacant seat will be held on Sept 8 (Monday). Shaukat Hayat Bosan, Imran Shaukat and Lateef Ansar Lajpal are in the run. As the things appear, there will be a neck-to-neck fight between Mr Bosan and Mr Shaukat.

Shaukat Bosan is the younger brother of Haji Sikandar Bosan and is a nominee of the PML-Q. Imran Shaukat is the nephew of MPA Ibrahim Khan, who after being returned as an independent candidate, joined the PML-Q in the PA. Imran had been a UC Naib Nazim and, therefore, member of the Saddar tehsil council.

Besides influence of their clan in the area, Shaukat Bosan is contesting the election as a government representative. Rumours are that the elder Bosan has set a stage to get his brother elected unopposed.

Although the filing of the nomination papers by Imran has disturbed the Bosans, they are still considering him a minnow. It is impossible for the Gilanis to stay aloof and see their arch-rivals gaining ground.

Yousaf Raza Gilani was defeated for the first time in the 1997 elections by Sikandar Bosan, an upset which took the political circles by surprise. During the Oct 10 polls, the elder Gilani was in jail. The younger Gilani had to contest after resigning from the tehsil Nazim’s office.

Yousaf Gilani, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Javed Hashmi and Sikandar Bosan enjoy support in the areas under the Multan Saddar tehsil.

Except Bosan, the other three heavyweights are in the same boat of ARD (opposing the government). The Gilanis are going for a door-to-door campaign for Imran Shaukat, pledging to give a tough time to the Bosans. In the absence of Shah Mahmood Qureshi (who is out of the country), his younger brother Mureed Husain Qureshi, a former MPA, is active in the electioneering for Imran Shaukat. Good support from the Gilani and Qureshi clans has improved Imran’s chances of making a mark.

The Bosans have another setback in the form of freezing of the official accounts of the ministers busy in electioneering. State minister Sikandar Bosan was reported to have announced big development grants for the area falling under the Multan Saddar tehsil while doing electioneering for his brother.

However, the analysts believe that the candidate winning PML-N’s Javed Hashmi’s support will emerge successful.