LAHORE: Alleging that other parties’ workers supporting the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are being arrested in Lahore, party Senator Taj Haider has written to the chief election commissioner (CEC) for their immediate release and legal action against the officials concerned.

The senator, who is in-charge of the PPP central election cell, says in a letter to the CEC that the police are arresting the activists from other political parties who are joining Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s election campaign in the National Assembly’s constituency NA-127.

He alleges that the police are terrorising the pro-PPP activists to force them into giving up their support for the party.

He says that Shehzad and Shehbaz, two PTI activists from Bahar Colony in the constituency, who had announced support for Bilawal, along with others, were rounded up by the police.

Likewise, a PML-N councillor, Khalida Perveen, was also detained at Liaquatabad police station for joining the PPP, he says, adding when campaign in-charge Zulfikar Ali Badr approached the capital city police officer (CCPO), he was told that she had been taken into custody in a four-month-old case.

Senator Haider alleges that when Mr Badr talked to the CCPO for the release of Shehzad and Shehbaz, the police officer used abusive language against the PPP leader.

Fearing that their highhandedness will further worsen if the police are not stopped now, he demands that the ‘innocent’ activists should be released at once and legal action initiated against the policemen responsible for the ‘illegal’ arrest.

Meanwhile, ex-Punjab governor Chaudhry Sarwar predicts that more independent candidates as compared with the past will win this time in the polls in Punjab.

He was speaking at a joint press conference with Islami Jamhoori Ittehad’s Allama Zubair Ahmed Zaheer, who announced his alliance’s support for the PPP in the polls.

Mr Sarwar says all eyes are set on NA-127 and the administration is requested to provide a level playing field to all the contestants.

He claims that Mr Bhutto-Zardari will win the Lahore seat with a margin of thousands of votes.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024