BAHAWALPUR, Feb 21: Five independent members of National and Provincial assemblies elected from the district have planned to form their own group, what they say, for the development of the area and welfare of local people.
Dawn learnt that these members consulted each other and agreed to form their own group and that the decision to join any political party in the centre and Punjab would be taken from the platform of the group.
The five MPs elected independent are: member of the National Assembly (MNA) Sardar Amir Yar Warren, and members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) Jahanzeb Warren, Sahibzada Gazin Abbasi, Kazim Ali Pirzada and Safdar Gill.
Among them, MNA Warren was last associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q). In the 2002 elections, he was elected on Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians platform but he defected to the PML-Q. MPA Warren is a first-timer and also close relative of the MNA Warren. Gazin Abbasi is the son of former Punjab deputy assembly speaker Usman Abbasi. Mr Pirzada and Mr Gill were elected from Khairpur Temewali and Hasilpur with the backing of PML-Q’s Riaz Pirzada.
DROWN: A man and his son drowned in a canal near Yazman on Wednesday night.
Subeh Sadiq and his son, Rehmatullah, were travelling on a motorcycle along the bank of Bahawal canal near Chak no.27/DRB. In a bid to avoid a stray dog which was crossing the road, they fell into the canal and died. Their bodies were fished out after hectic efforts on Thursday.
Also, nine-month-old Nida died when she fell from her mother’s lap when the motorcycle, which her father Anwar was driving, struck a road bump. The accident occurred on Yazman Road.
Four killed: Four members of a marriage party were killed and 20 others suffered serious injuries in a road accident near Chak 22 in Yazman tehsil on Thursday.
Reports said that a bus, coming from Chak Jhumra, overturned when the driver lost control over the steering due to high speed. Aslam, Sabir, Saleem and Irfan died instantly. Among the 20 injured the condition of the groom and two minor girls was serious in a private hospital.