Public-shy women win Toba bout

Published February 20, 2008

TOBA TEK SINGH, Feb 19: Two women candidates – one from NA-92, Gojra and other from PP-88, Kamalia - won their respective seats without personally joining the electioneering in the district.

MNA-elect Begum Farkhanda Amjad Warraich of PML-Q neither faced the electorate during electioneering, nor any of her campaign hoarding or poster carried her photograph. Instead, a portrait of her husband, a former MNA, Amjad Warraich, was displayed.

Ms Warraich was also conspicuous by her absence at the main public meeting in the constituency which was also addressed by Pervaiz Elahi.

Similarly, an MPA elect of PML-N from PP-88, Kamalia, Begum Nazia Raheel, made a short public appearance only once during her campaign, when PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif addressed a gathering in the constituency. Her picture too was missing from the publicity material and was compensated by her husband’s.

Another feature of the poll scene in the district was a contest between two retired army men — Col Ayub Gadhi (retired) of PML-N and Brig Javed Akram (retired) of PML-Q. The former, however, win in PP-87.

Meanwhile, the winning couple of 2002 polls, Riaz Fatyana and his wife Ashfa Riaz could not repeat the performance as Ashfa was defeated by Nazia Raheel of PML-N.

In yet another interesting episode, in NA-94, Kamalia, all the three candidates — PML-Q’s Riaz Fatyana, PPP’s Haider Kharal and PML-N’s Asadur Rehman — took out `victory’ processions after the on polling ended. However, Fityana had the last laugh.

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