BAHAWALPUR, Oct 3: A tough contest between the PML-supported Bahawalpur Ittehad and the Sadiq Dost group for top slots is expected during the third phase of local elections here on Oct 6 as the PML is divided over the nomination of candidates.

The main encounter is expected for the district nazim slot for which Tariq Cheema, the PML-backed candidate, is an aspirant for the second term. The Sadiq Dost group has fielded a new face, Sahibzada Umer Daud Abbasi, who had been supporting Tariq Cheema during his first term.

If Sadiq Dost group’s chief Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi had opted to face Tariq Cheema for the district nazim slot, the political scenario might have entirely been different. Sahibzada Umer Daud Abbasi is also a grandson of the late Bahawalpur amir Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi and son of the late Prince Daud Abbasi and brother of Sahibzada Usman Abbasi, the former Punjab assembly deputy speaker.

He is also a nephew of the late governors of Punjab and Sindh — Brig Muhammad Abbas Abbasi and Lt-Gen S.M Abbasi, respectively.

During the last local elections, Umer Abbasi from the Tariq Cheema group had contested for the Ahmedpur East’s tehsil nazim slot, but he was defeated by Makhdum Samiul Hasan Gilani, a nominee of the Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi group. Later, Mr Gilani bade him farewell and joined the Tariq Cheema group, which had again nominated Samiul Hasan Gilani for Ahmedpur East tehsil nazim slot.

Tariq Cheema and his group’s other candidates have an edge over their rivals in all the six tehsils because of the support of the ruling PML.

In addition, most of his comrades are also former tehsil nazims, who claimed to have given handsome amount to their former UC nazims to carry on uplift projects in their respective areas. Tariq Cheema’s Bahawalpur Ittehad group enjoys the support of two MNAs — Syed Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi and Malik Aamir Yar Warren and seven MPAs — Ahmad Nawaz, Dr Afzal, Shoaib Karim, Saifullah Owaisi, Makhdum Iftikhar Gilani, Khalid Mehmood Warren and Mohtarma Sitara Fayyaz.

While the Sadiq Dost group nominees are supported by three MNAs — Makhdum Ali Hasan Gilani (PML), Mian Riaz Husain Peerzada and Malik Farooq Azam and two MPAs — Latif Aqil and Sahibzada Muzammil Rashid Abbasi (PML).

Presently, both the rival groups have almost completed their councillors’ conventions nearly at all tehsil headquarters. In these conventions, the Bahawalpur Ittehad had clearly been showing its strength while the Sadiq Dost group leaders had been avoiding to enumerate the number of councillors before the media. In Ahmedpur East tehsil, Ittehad’s Samiul Hasan Gilani is facing Sadiq Dost group’s Hasan Askari Sheikh, the son of the late Shujaullah Sheikh.

Hasan Askari Shaikh, the nephew of former PPP MPA Maj Samiullah Sheikh (retired), was once a close confidant of Tariq Cheema. While Samiul Hasan Gilani is the stepbrother of MNA Makhdum Syed Ali Hasan Gilani (PML) and nephew of former NA speaker and PPP’s Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Punjab chief minister’s adviser Mukhdum Syed Iftikhar Gilani (Uch Sharif).

In Hasilpur, Tariq Cheema is supporting former tehsil nazim Sajjad Husain Bukhari for the second term. He is being opposed by Sadiq Dost group’s Muhammad Afzal Gill, a former MPA.

In Khairpur Tamewali tehsil, former MPA Syed Salman Gardezi will be the PML-supported candidate for the tehsil nazim slot. He is the nephew of MNA Syed Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi and the son of the late Syed Ahmed Nawaz Shah Gardezi. His opponent is MNA Mian Riaz Husain Peerzada’s son Mian Kazim Husain Peerzada. In Yazman tehsil, Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar, a close associate of Tariq Cheema, is running for the second term. His opponent is Mohsin Maqbool of the Sadiq Dost group.