MULTAN, August 19: Lengthy counting process and staff shortage have been causing inordinate delay in announcing official results of the first phase of the local elections held in all the thirteen districts of southern Punjab.
In the absence of any authentic information, the rival groups are claiming victories of their candidates. The candidates who are declaring victories base their claims on result-sheets provided to their respective polling agents by the polling staff after completion of the counting at polling stations.
However, information gathered through official and unofficial sources says there is a tough competition between the candidates backed by the PML and those of the opposition parties and the disgruntled elements of the ruling coalition.
Observers point out another aspect of the unofficial outcome of polls that the PML is divided into various groups on the basis of local rivalries wherever CM Pervaiz Elahi announced his nominees for the top district slots. Consequently, the nominees and the PML are in quandary in most of the areas as disgruntled elements of the ruling party have struck seat-to-seat adjustment with the opposition parties.
The CM had nominated his Jat brethren Ali Akbar Waince for Bahawalnagar district’s top slot. Disapproving it, federal minister and Arain clan leader Ijazul Haq struck a deal with the arch-rival PML-Q’s Chaudhry Ghafoor, MNA Asghar Shah and PPP’s MPA Mumtaz Matiana and MPA Rao Ijaz while Shaukat Laleka of PML was also in alliance opposing CM’s man.
According to the unofficial results, the CM’s nominee and his allies, provincial minister Khadim Kaloka and MNA Tahir Basheer Cheema, have bagged top slots of 50 of the 118 union councils of the district while their rival camp has won in the 60 UCs.
In Bahawalpur, strong alliance called Sadiq Dost was formed against the CM’s nominee yet again from the Jat clan, former zila nazim Tariq Basheer Cheema. Nawab Salauddin Abbasi is leading the group while PML MNAs Riaz Pirzada, Farooq Azam, Ali Hasan Gilani and local leaders of PPP are his allies. Tariq Cheema has MNA Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi and MPA Dr Muhammad Afzal in his Bahawalpur Ittehad. The unofficial results show a neck-and-neck fight between the two rival groups as the Bahawalpur Itehad is said to have won in 53 of the 107 UCs of the district while the Sadiq Dost scored victory in 49 UCs. Former Pakpattan district nazim Amjad Joya has been nominated by the Punjab CM for the next term in the office. Unofficial results reveal victory of his candidates for the top slots in 13 of the 66 UCs of the district. The candidates backed by the opposition parties have staged victory in 24 UCs while various factions of the ruling coalition opposing the CM’s nominee have secured top slots in 23 UCs.
In Lodhran, the panels being backed by the official nominee for the top slot, Abdul Rehman Kanju, have been routed in the district at the hands of panels fielded by PML-Q MNA Akhtar Khan Kanju, PPP-sponsored Awam Dost, Lodhran Itehad and Shafiq Arain groups. Former district nazim Abdul Rehman was the son of late Saddiq Khan Kanju while Akhtar Kanju is his maternal uncle. The CM had nominated Jamal Leghari, the son of former president Sardar Farooq Leghari, for the Dera Ghazi Khan district top slot. He, too, is facing an uphill task to rise up to the ‘expectations’ of the CM as the candidates of his rival group led by PML-N stalwart Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa and Maqsood Leghari have won 23 UCs against 24 by his group. In Rajanpur, the candidates fielded by Sardar Nasrullah Dreshak and deputy speaker Punjab Assembly Shaukat Mazari have clinched the top slots in 27 of the 44 UCs of the district against 16 won by the Leghari-Mazari-Dreshak alliance. Here, the CM had made no announcement for top district slot.
Shahabuddin Seharr is the CM’s nominee in Layyah for the top district slot. However, candidates fielded by him could win only in 12 of the 44 UCs of the district. Candidates of other aspirants for the top slot from among the ruling coalition scored victories as Ghulam Haider Thind (12 UCs) and MNA Niaz Jakharr (six UCs). Panels fielded by the joint opposition of PPP, PML-N and MMA have won in eight UCs.
In Khanewal, the official support was evidently for the Allah Yar Hiraj group. Reports said the panels fielded by Allah Yar, state minister Raza Hayat Hiraj and provincial minister Husain Jehania Gardezi won in 45 of the 100 UCs of the district while top slots in rest of the 65 UCs are bagged by the disgruntled factions of PML and Awam Dost group of PPP.
In Multan, the Khushhal Pakistan group of the ruling party has staged victories in around 70 of the 129 UCs while the opposition alliance won in 40 UCs. Rest of the 19 are said to be won by the non-aligned candidates.