LARKANA: The recently-formed Larkana Awami Ittehad (LAI) — led by estranged Pakistan Peoples Party leaders Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Haji Munawwar Ali Abbasi, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Moazzam Abbasi and others — launched its campaign on Thursday for the upcoming local government elections in Larkana district jointly with the Pakistan Peoples Party-Workers (PPP-W) — also a newly-formed entity led by Dr Safdar Abbasi.

Mr Bhutto and the Abbasis organised a rally in Waleed town that marched through various areas of two union councils where the candidates nominated and backed by the two forums held corner meetings.

The LAI and PPP-W leaders also held meetings with several influential political figures of Larkana district. In such a meeting, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate Haji Nazar Ali Jatoi, agreed to withdraw from the contest for a district council seat in favour of his PPP-W rival, Zahid Ali Abbasi.

Speaking to the rally participants, the PPP-W chairman said that his party had formed 16 panels of candidates in various union councils to be backed by the LAI. A final list of LAI-PPP-W candidates would be made public on Friday, he said.

Vowing to rout the PPP from once its stronghold, Larkana, Dr Abbasi severely criticised its current leadership for “betraying the masses” and deviating from the mission pursued by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. He also accused it of plundering the national and provincial exchequers. In Larkana district, no development work had been carried out during the past seven years despite the release of a huge amount of Rs85 billion for the purpose under the so called ‘Larkana Package’, he claimed.

LAI convener Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi told the audience at various places that PPP leaders and their LG candidates were harassing their LAI rivals. However, he said, PPP opponents were strong enough to bear such excesses and hand them a defeat in the election. He alleged that the ruling party was terrorising and harassing its opponents through SHOs, and warned that such practices were a gross violation of the code of conduct for the election.

He predicted that the masses would reject the PPP due to its utter indifference towards rural population of Sindh.

Earlier, LAI patron-in-chief Mumtaz Ali Bhutto chaired a joint meeting of LAI and PPP-W leaders in Mirpur Bhutto on Thursday.

All aspects of the LG election right from the launch of the joint electioneering to the strategy to ensure the victory of a maximum number of their candidates were discussed in detail.

The decided to gear up the mass-contact campaign and also sorted out the election-related issues that had cropped up while fielding joint candidates. Seat adjustments with in consultation with influential figures of various areas was finalised at the meeting.

The meeting severely criticised the bureaucracy for its “tilt towards PPP candidates” and decided to launch a protest over the unfair trend.

“The LAI has started preparing lists of those police officers who are not heeding public complaints and serving [PPP co-chairman Asif Ali] Zardari and his cronies,” he warned while referring to the police inaction with regard to the high court’s order for the eviction of encroachers who were occupying lands near Naudero. “For how long people will exercise restraint,” and asked if the “big forces are waiting for a bloodshed?”

The meeting was attended, among others, by Akbar Shah Rashdi of the PML-F, Qurban Ali Abbasi of the PML-N, Sardar Fida Hussain Gopang, Shafqat Hussain Unnar of the PTI, Tarique Nazeer Shaikh, Dr Roshan Pechuho, Irshad Junejo and Badarudin Abbasi.

Published in Dawn October 2nd, 2015

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