MULTAN, June 21: Differences between the ruling PML stalwarts in the remote Rajanpur district of southern Punjab have cropped up again ahead of the local-body polls, as both Leghari and Dareshak camps are vying to win over the support of the powers-that-be. Rajanpur District Nazim Dr Hafeezur Rehman Dareshak, MNA Jaffar Khan Leghari and MPAs — Ghazali Raheem Pitafi and Amanullah Khan Dareshak — had met up with Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi a few days ago reportedly to complaint against the police high-handedness against their supporters at the behest of Sardar Nasrullah Dareshak, the chief whip of the ruling party in the National Assembly.
Later, Nasrullah Dreshak and his son Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak, who is the provincial finance minister, paid a counter visit to the chief minister along with the Rajanpur district police officer and a number of his subordinates. Apparently, the visit was meant to appreciate the police performance in controlling crime in their area.
According to analysts, the Legharis have a strong presence in the politics of Rajanpur district which further strengthened after the influential Mazari clan joined hands with it after mending fences.
The Mazaris of Rojhan were, in fact, left with no other choice but to shake hands with the arch-rivals after allegedly being pushed to the wall through the police by Sardar Dareshak and his ally Shaukat Mazari, the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker.
The Legharis and the Dareshaks were allies until the general election of October 2002. The candidates backed by the Leghari-Dareshak alliance had swept the electoral contest by winning the two National Assembly and five provincial assembly seats. The office of district nazim was already with the alliance.
Before sinking their political differences with the Legharis, Sardar Dareshak was facing defeat after defeat in the successive electoral bouts at the hands of the alliance comprising the Legharis and a breakaway faction of his clan, led by Dr Hafeez Dareshak and Amanullah.
However, after returning to the assembly in the last general election, he wasted no time in joining the then PML-Q and his decision proved a right one because he bagged the coveted finance ministry for his son, who had returned for the first time. Analysts say the Legharis were not happy about the situation.
The political scene of the district became more obscure when Sardar Farooq Ahmad Leghari dissolved his Millat Party into the ruling PML. Now both the Legharis and the Dareshaks have been pitched against each other in the local politics despite being in a similar situation.
As negotiations for the coming LB polls have been geared up, both camps are reportedly trying to have a backing of Pervaiz Elahi and Shujaat Husain.
Sources said the Chaudhrys had a clear tilt towards the Dreshak camp while the Leghari camp just wanted them to be neutral in the tug-of-war for Rajanpur’s throne.