DERA GHAZI KHAN, Jan 20: The visit of the Punjab chief minister on Jan 10 to Taunsa Sharif tehsil by ignoring the district headquarters intensified the ongoing row between district Nazim Jamal Khan Leghari and legislators from Taunsa tehsil.
Reports said the visit did not live up to the expectations of the people of Taunsa Sharif as the tehsil was not granted the status of district.
It was for the first time in the history of Taunsa that any chief minister went there and the people of the area missed a chance by not forcefully demanding a bridge between Taunsa and Layyah.
The merger of Millat Party into the ruling PML could not create harmony on the development of the district as the legislators from Taunsa Sharif were elected on the latter's ticket while the rest of the elected representatives of the district belonged to the former except Mohammed Khan Leghari (independent MPA), Begum Zenat Khan (MPA on reserve seat of the PML) and Begum Shehnaz Malik (MPA on reserve seat of the PML-N).
District Nazim Jamal Leghari and Taunsa tehsil Nazim Saeedullah Nasuha could not get the desired result from the visit as the chief minister by ignoring Dera DHQs went to tribal area and Taunsa tehsil. Saeedullah Nasuha had managed banners and portraits which were 'taken away' by unknown figures on the night of the arrival of the chief minister on which he had exchanged hot words with MNA Khawaja Sheraz.
The chief minister was welcomed warmly by tribal chief MPA Fateh Mohammed Khan Buzdar and tehsil Nazim Usman Khan Buzdar at Barthi where he addressed tribal elders of the area and announced a package worth Rs120 million. The amount will be mainly spent on the construction of two metalled roads - Chowkiwala-Kharar Buzdar, Mangrotha-Fazal Kacch - and provision of electricity.
Mr. Elahi was presented a sword by the Buzdar tribal chief.
When the district Nazim came to the address the people of Taunsa Sharif in the presence of the chief minister, they raised slogans of 'go back, go back.'
People of the district are the main losers in the wake of the tussle between the political heavyweights.