FAISALABAD, July 17: The PPP has accused the ruling party of launching a mudslinging campaign against its aspirants for the local polls. Speaking at a press conference, PPP Punjab Secretary-General Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan, divisional coordinator Raja Riaz Ahmad, district president Rana Farooq Saeed Khan and the head of the PPP-backed Awam Dost Group, Raja Safdar Husain, pointed out that the PML was violating the code of conduct for the polls and the election commission was playing the role of a silent spectator.

They said the PML aspirants were being interviewed in the party offices throughout the province and ministers were attending the meetings of their ‘favourites’ in their areas.

Moreover, they alleged, the government functionaries were being deputed on the recommendations of the ruling party candidates and office-bearers so that they could get the results of local councils from their respective areas according to their wishes.

They said the PPP was going to form special legal and media cells at the district level to provide assistance to the candidates and brief the media on the wrongdoings of the government-backed candidates.

Candidates for union councils would be decided by the special boards constituted under Awam Dost Group in all districts. Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto would finalize the names of candidates for all seats, they added.

WASA: The Water And Sanitation Agency has directed the industrialists to close their units during rains so that the complaints of overflow of sewerage lines could be reduced.

During a meeting with the representatives of the All-Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association, Wasa chief Ras Masood said the owners of cottage industries and textile ancillary units should cooperate with the agency for solving the sewerage problems.

He said the drain along the Samundri Road would be widened soon to meet the pressure of water from industrial units and residential areas. A new line was also being laid in the industrial area on the Maqbool Road to resolve the sewerage problem.

Mr Masood asked the factory owners to install water treatment plants in their units.

criticized: Punjab Communication and Works Minister Chaudhry Zaheeruddin Khan has said the approval of the Hasba Bill by the NWFP assembly would create anarchy.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, he said the adoption of the bill was a political move of the MMA-led government in the NWFP.

He said the Council of Islamic Ideology was there to make any change in the system and the bill was a move of the MMA to muster support for the local-body election. It would also destabilize the country, he added.