THATTA, June 28: Shaukat Aziz will face defeat if he contests for a National Assembly seat from Thatta, provided free polls are held under supervision of high court judges. This was observed by the People's Party Parliamentarians at its general body meeting held at Soomra Manzil here on Monday.

On this occasion, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party leader Syed Mehboob Shah, along with 100 party colleagues, announced joining the PPP. District PPP president Syed Masood Mustafa Shah, who presided over the meeting, general-secretary Abdul Jalil Memon, Syed Iqbal Shah, Imtiaz Qureshi, former MNA Babu Ghulam Hussain, former MPA Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro and other party leaders welcomed the joining of the STPP leaders.

They said it would strengthen the PPP in the district. They regretted that the Thatta district was facing numerous problems due to wrong polices of the PML. They said non-release of water downstream Kotri Barrage for the last couple of years had badly hit growers.

The district, they added, was facing drought-like situation but Abyana and other agricultural taxes were being collected from growers. Zarai Taraqiati Bank officials were harassing growers, they further said.

They observed that road robberies, cattle theft, police excesses and atrocities of revenue officials against growers had added to miseries of people. The PPP announced that an all parties conference would be convened in the district next month to formulate strategies to rescue the district from the crisis.