KASUR, Feb 11: The district coordination officer (DCO) has allowed PML-Q candidate for NA-140 to hold his public meetings in three localities of the district in next couple of days while rejecting a similar request made by his rival PPP candidate.
Two former foreign ministers, Mian Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri of the PML-Q and Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali of the PPP, are contesting for the slot.
The PPP candidate has termed the DCO’s decision “discriminatory” while the officer has defended his action, saying he passed the orders on ‘first come, first served’ basis as he received the PML-Q candidate’s application two days before the one submitted by the PPP aspirant.
On Monday, Sardar Aseff filed an application before DCO Saeed Akhtar Ansari to allow him holding public meetings in his hometown Mandi Usmanwala, Allahabad and Khudian on Feb 14, Feb 15 and Feb 16, respectively, at specified venues.
The DCO informed Sardar Aseff that he had received similar application from Khursheed Kasuri on Saturday (Feb 9) who had also sought for permission to hold his meetings at the same venues on the same dates.
Later, the DCO issued orders, allowing Kasuri to hold his meetings on the prescribed dates and venues and rejected Sardar Aseff’s request.
When contacted, Sardar Aseff said that the DCO had shown partiality and discrimination, which was totally unfair.
He said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already received a number of applications against the DCO in which he had been accused of favouritism. The PPP candidate said that the ECP had also issued notices to the DCO to explain his position.
Sardar Aseff also said that he had submitted an application before the district returning officer (DRO) in this connection. He expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved with intervention of the DRO and that he (Sardar Aseff) had always shown large-heartedness, flexibility and will to compromise on such petty issues.
In an official handout issued by district information officer later in the day, the DCO clarified that Khursheed Kasuri’s application was received on Feb 9 while that of Sardar Aseff was received on Feb 11, so he passed the appropriate orders on the basis of ‘first come, first served’ basis.
The handout further contemplates that PPP candidate’s request was also turned down while keeping in view law and order situation and to avoid any untoward incident because both the candidates were seeking for permission to hold meetings at the same places on the same days.
The handout, however, is silent to the effect that whether or not the permission was sought by both the candidates to hold their meetings at the same time, either in the mornings or in the evenings.