OKARA, July 31: The PPP ticket awarding board, after its meeting under Benazir Bhutto in London, has short-listed party candidates for national and provincial assembly seats from the district.

For NA-143 the party has selected Rai Noor Muhammad Kharal, a four-time member of the Punjab Assembly. His son-in-law Rai Farooq Omar Kharl is the ruling party MPA from the area.

During the 2002 elections PPP’s Rai Ghulam Mujtaba Kharl had lost NA-143 to PML’s Rai Muhammad Aslam Kharl.

The sources said the party chairperson had indicated that Cap Mujtaba might be awarded ticket for PP-188 and Rao Khalid Mustafa for PP-189. Both the seats fall in the NA-143 area.

For NA-144, the PPP is likely to bank on new entrant Muhammad Arif Ch. Former provincial minister Rana Ikram Rabbani has been tipped for PP-190.

For NA-145, Pir Syed Ali Shah Bokhari has been selected and for NA-146 the party is banking on former district naib naizm Syed Abbas Raza Rizvi.

For NA-147, the PPP choice is Sardar Khizar Hayat Ladoka Wattoo.

There are five NA and nine PA seats in Okara. The selection for rest of the PA seats is yet to be made.

Loadsheddin: Hundreds of citizens of south localities blocked the GT Road near Octroi Post 7 against unscheduled loadshedding on Tuesday.

They blocked the road for an hour by torching used tyres.

A police team rushed to the site to get the road cleared.

The city has been facing loadshedding up to five hours a day for the last three weeks.