THATTA: PPP candidates for the seats of chairman and vice chairman of Thatta district council, Ghulam Qadir Palijo and Mumtaz Jalbani, were declared winners unopposed on Monday after their opponents PML-N’s Malik Imran Awan and Saleem Shoro withdrew their nomination papers.

The election commission had announced the elections would be held for the Thatta council on Oct 5 but on the last day of scrutiny of papers on Monday, the PML-N Sheerazi group candidates surprised everyone by withdrawing their papers, paving the way for unopposed win of both the PPP candidates.

Sources said that Sheerazi group candidates had taken back the papers as a result of understanding reached between the rivals after clandestine meetings in which they might have settled issues of mutual interest.

After official declaration of PPP candidates’ win, a large number of jubilant party workers gathered at the bungalow of Ghulam Qadir Palijo, a former PPP MPA and father of Senator Sassui Palijo, and celebrated the victory by dancing to drumbeats.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2016