SHEIKHUPURA, July 29: Continuing protest against the Punjab government’s notification of Nankana Sahib status as district, the candidates for four union councils, including Safdarabad tehsil’s former nazim and naib nazim, have not submitted their nomination papers even after the deadline.

According to sources in the election commission, the hopefuls for union councils 1 (Salar Bhattian), 6 (Rehmanabad), 7 (Khanqah Dogran City) and 8 (Chehnay Virkan) have not filed their papers as a protest. They have boycotted the local election process.

Members of the Khanqah Dogran bachao and action committee, Mian Mushtaq Husain Dogar, a former MPA, Sardar Dogar, Mian Jamshaid Abbas, Ghulam Samdani, Sardar Asif Dogar and Sheikh Zamurad, told a press conference on Friday that they had boycotted the election process because of ‘unjustified’ division of Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib.

They said their areas were marked in the jurisdiction of Nankana Sahib, though Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had verbally promised them that the towns would remain part of Sheikhupura.

The ambiguity was causing a great deal of inconvenience to the residents of the towns, the committee said, urging the chief minister to issue a notification of Safdarabad, Khanqah Dogran and other localities nearby as part of Sheikhupura.

They said they would continue their protest and not pay any taxes in future if their demanded was not met.

Meanwhile, the candidates aspiring for naizm and naib nazim slots in three union councils also have boycotted the election process on the same grounds.

Sources said the candidates for union councils 43, 44 and 49 had not submitted their nomination paper. For union councils 45, 46, 47 and 48, the election commission has not even received applications for the seats of woman peasants/workers.

ELECTED: As many as 36 woman councillors of Sheikhupura tehsil were elected unopposed as no application was submitted against them.