BAHAWALPUR, Aug 23: With the completion of the election process at the union council level, the electioneering for the slots of district, tehsil and city nazims and naib nazims has started in the district.

The main contenders for the slot of district nazim are the Bahawalpur Ittehad and the Sadiq Dost Group. Former district nazim Tariq Cheema will be the only potential candidate from the Bahawalpur Ittehad as he enjoys full support of Punjab PML chief and Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.

However, the Sadiq Dost Group is still undecided, but it is expected that former Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Sahibzada Usman Abbasi can be its potential candidate instead of Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi.

Earlier before the union council elections, there were indications that MNA Mian Riaz Husain Peerzada’s brother Mian Sajjad Husain Peerzada, a former district council chairman, could be fielded for this slot.

PML-N’s group led by Chaudhry Saood Majid, whose efforts bore fruits in the UC election in Yazman tehsil, minus the Chaudhry Samiullah Group will be supporting Sahibzada Usman Abbasi as the PML-N has already announced that it will oppose any government-backed candidate particularly Tariq Cheema. It is expected that group leader Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi may formally announce his group candidate within a couple of days.

For the slot of city nazim, ex-MNA Sahibzada Farooq Anwar Abbasi (Bahawalpur Ittehad) and former parliamentary secretary Samiullah Chaudhry (independent) are aspiring. Former tehsil naib nazim Malik Zahid Mahmood Channar (Ittehad) can also be a potential candidate for this slot. Ijaz Safdar can be a choice of the Ittehad for the slot of Sadar tehsil nazim. Safdar is the son of ex-MPA Chaudhry Mohammad Safdar, a close ally of Tariq Cheema.

In Yazman tehsil, the stronghold of Tariq Cheema, the Bahawalpur Ittehad is eying the selection of former tehsil nazim Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar and naib nazim Chaudhry Basharat Randhawa while the Sadiq Dost Group is considering Chaudhry Mohammad Javed Sadiq who has snatched the Yazman city union council seat from Tariq Cheema’s Ittehad Group.

A tie is expected between the two aspirants for the slot of Ahmedpur East tehsil nazim namely former tehsil nazim Syed Samiul Hasan Gilani and Jahanzeb Warren belonging to the Bahawalpur Ittehad. Samiul Hasan Gilani was in the Nawab Group in the local government elections 2001, but later on he changed his loyalties and joined the Tariq Cheema Group.

During his tenure, Sami Gilani had been enjoying a complete confidence of Tariq Cheema, who is still supporting him. But Jahanzeb Warren is also out to pressurize his group for his nomination for the tehsil nazim slot as his two cousins, federal parliamentary secretary Malik Aamir Yar Warren and chief minister’s adviser Malik Khalid Mahmood Warren, have been supporting Tariq Cheema in his campaign for district nazim.

In either case, the Sadiq Dost Group is likely to announce Sahibzada Umar Daud Abbasi a potential candidate against Sami Gilani or Jahanzeb Warren. Sahibzada Umar Daud Abbasi is the younger brother of Sahibzada Usman Abbasi, and as a district council member he had been supporting Tariq Cheema as nazim during the past four years. Now, he is siding with the Sadiq Dost Group. In 2001, both Sami Gilani and Umar Daud Abbasi were the rival candidates for the slot of Ahmedpur East tehsil nazim.

In Hasilpur tehsil, the Bahawalpur Ittehad still considers former tehsil nazim Syed Sajjad Husain Bokhari its potential candidate while the Sadiq Dost Group is giving weight to ex-MPA Chaudhry Riaz Ahmad for his nomination.