Former PPP MNA Mir Shabbir Ahmed Bijarani, son of late provincial minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, on Friday became the first candidate to be elected to an upcoming legislature, weeks ahead of the July 25 general elections.
Mir Shabbir was declared elected from the Sindh Assembly constituency of PS-06 in Kashmore by returning officer (RO) Ataullah Mahar.
Contesting on a PPP ticket, the lawmaker from the influential Bijarani family was elected after the nomination papers of his opponent, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal's Pir Abdul Qayoom, were rejected by the RO as well as an election tribunal in Sukkur. Other opponents had withdrawn in Shabbir's favour.
According to a public notice issued by RO Mahar, there are a total of 145,851 registered voters in the Kandhkot- Kashmore constituency, including 83,671 males and 62,180 females.
The younger Bijarani is the first PPP candidate who has been elected unopposed on a provincial assembly seat in the country.
PS-06 falls in the same area from where Mir Shabbir's father, veteran politician Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani was elected to the provincial assembly in 2013.
Bodies of the elder Bijarani, the Sindh minister for planning and development, and his wife Fariha Razzak Haroon, a former member of Sindh Assembly, were found in their Karachi residence in February this year.
Police had reached the conclusion that the seasoned lawmaker committed suicide by shooting himself after killing his wife over some ‘domestic dispute’.
Detour to GDA
On Wednesday, Mir Shabbir had at a press conference at Sukkur Press Club announced his decision to part ways with the PPP and join the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) owing to reservations against the party leadership.
Flanked by GDA and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders, he had alleged that people from his own party filed objections against his nomination papers and when he reported the matter to the party leaders they did not pay any heed to it nor listened to his grievances. He had also announced that he would support GDA candidates in Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore and other neighbouring districts.
Soon after the announcement, however, former Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, ex-minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and other leaders visited his residence and convinced him to travel to Islamabad and meet PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to settle their differences.
Following the meeting, Mir Shabbir announced he had rejoined the PPP and accepted the party's ticket for PS-06 after assurances from the party leadership.
