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HYDERABAD, Feb 12: The Sindh National Party vice-chairman and a candidate for PS-49, Ashraf Noonari, and a Sunni Tehrik candidate for PS-49, Sikandar Khan, announced on Tuesday they were pulling out of the contest in favour of Pakistan People’s Party candidates.Sikandar Khan quit the race also for NA-219 in favour of PPP candidate Ali Mohammad Sehto. The announcements were made separately by the candidates at press conferences at the press club.
Mr Noonari said that his party had decided to support PPP candidates all over the province to strengthen Benazir Bhutto’s party, which alone was in a position to fight against dictatorship, terrorists and extremist elements.
He said that the urban mafia had chalked out a conspiracy to win elections at gunpoint and warned that the SNP workers would be present at all the polling stations to foil rigging attempts.
He said that Pervez Musharraf had handed over the country to terrorist mafia and religious extremists in order to prolong his rule and Pakistan today was being called a terrorist country.
The martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto had made it imperative for all the democratic forces to unite on one platform to give a crushing defeat to the establishment and terrorists.
Meanwhile, ST leaders Mohammad Khalid Hassan Atari, Mohammad Amin Qadri, Mohammad Abid Qadri and Sikandar Khan, candidate for PS-49 and NA-219, announced unconditional support for PPP candidate Abdul Jabbar Khan.
They said that Abdul Jabbar Khan had carried out many development schemes in Latifabad during his tenure as taluka nazim and appealed to all the Tehrik workers to vote for him.
Later, Sikandar Khan also announced quitting the race for NA-219 in favour of PPP candidate Ali Mohammad Sehto after a closed door meeting between ST and PPP leaders including district president Zahid Ali Bhurgri, senior vice-president Amanullah Siyal, Syed Fayaz Shah and Ali Mohammad Sehto, PPP candidate for NA-219.
JUI: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam leaders on Tuesday announced their support for Mushtaq Ahmed Farooqui, an independent candidate for PS-45 Hyderabad.
DEMO: A large number of activists of Sindh National Party staged a demonstration outside the press club on Tuesday in protest against alleged excesses of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leaders Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Liaquat Jatoi and Choudhry brothers.
