With just over 700,000 registered voters, district Ghotki is the scene of an elaborate political chessboard between the influential families of upper Sindh.

A split in the Mahar family may find two brothers at odds with a third brother and a younger cousin, the chief of the Mahar tribe, Mohammad Bux Khan Mahar (that Sindh sports minister).

The former sports minister is facing family pressure to return his PPP ticket and run as an independent, but his candidacy for PS-20 was recently rejected, and despite public declarations, there is no guarantee he will remain loyal to the party — leading PPP to hedge its bets in the meantime.

Read more on what’s happening on the ground in Ghotki and Sukkur here.