MULTAN, July 26: A female contestant for the forthcoming local polls has accused the ruling PML local leadership of pressuring her to withdraw her candidature.

A candidate for the slot of UC-16 nazim, Ms Naheed Hafeez levelled allegations of using coercive acts against former Multan city tehsil nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar, who is also an industrialist, and MPA Moeen Riaz Qureshi.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, she alleged that Faisal Mukhtar and Moeen Qureshi came to her home along with several other people on July 20 last and asked her to withdraw from the contest. They offered her representation at the district council on the seats reserved for women.

She said Mr Mukhtar told her that (intelligence) agencies and the government were undermining him that how he could become the first nazim of the Multan City District Government when he could not exercise influence on a woman.

She said they also threatened that her husband would be transferred to a far-off district if she did not cooperate. He husband is a government servant in BPS-18 in Multan.