MULTAN, Sept 23: Comprising 13 districts of the former Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Bahawalpur divisions, the southern part of the Punjab will see electoral bouts on some 50 National Assembly seats in the October polls.
Being the agricultural heartland of the country, most of the south Punjab population lives in rural areas where big landlords rule the roost in economic and political affairs.
The forthcoming elections are no exception. Traditional political families are in the arena to impose their dominance once again.
On each NA constituency, the contest mainly is among the candidates of the PML-QA, the PML-N and the PPP (Parliamentarians). In some constituencies, individuals are also in the run as independents after being denied tickets by the main parties.
However, keen contests are likely in nine NA constituencies which are drawing attention of the analysts and observers. These are:
NA-148, MULTAN-I: Four candidates are in the run from this constituency which comprise Qadirpur Raan, Budhala Sanat, Riazabad, Lotharr and Makhdum Rasheed.
Multan’s former district Nazim and PPP deputy secretary-general Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PML-N’s central vice-president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, joint candidate of the National Alliance and the PML-QA Makhdoom Ghulam Yazdani Gilani, the only non-Makhdoom candidate Sardar Muhammad Akram Sandhu of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf are pitched against each other.
Yazdani Gilani is largely banking on the ‘official support’ while Akram Sandhu is not being considered as a potential candidate. Therefore, the contest will be held mainly between Makhdoom Qureshi and detained Makhdoom Hashmi.
At present, the PML-N’s vice-president is in NAB’s custody, facing corruption charges.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi is giving full time to his constituency to ensure his victory. Detention is playing a weak point for Makhdoom Hashmi against the general notion that detained leaders usually get the sympathy vote.
The constituency comprised rural areas and the purdah-observing daughters of the PML-N leader can hardly campaign for their imprisoned father.
NA-151, MULTAN-IV: The area of Multan cantonment, Muzaffarabad, Nawabpur, Qasim Baila, Sher Shah, Bosan and Jhok Vaince fall in this constituency.
Formerly known as NA-114, this is the constituency from where PPP central vice-president and National Assembly’s former speaker Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani was elected thrice in the last four general elections.
At present, Yousaf Gilani is undergoing imprisonment after being convicted by an accountability court. His younger brother, Ahmed Mujtaba, is contesting from here on PPP ticket after resigning from the office of Multan Saddar Tehsil Nazim.
There are six other candidates from this constituency but the contest is likely among Mujtaba Gilani, Sikandar Hayat Bosan of the PML-Q and Maulvi Sultan Alan Ansari of the PML-N.
Sikandar Bosan had defeated the big Gilani in the 1997 elections from NA-114. Besides his Bosan clan votes, Sikandar is also flying high owing to ‘official patronage’. The division of anti-PPP votes will benefit Mujtaba Gilani and a very close fight is on the cards between him and Sikandar Bosan.
NA-156, KHANEWAL-I: A former speaker of the National Assembly and PML-QA stalwart, Syed Fakhr Imam, is hoping against hope to return from this constituency after his Syed group’s worst-ever debacle in local bodies elections last year for the top slots of district and tehsil Nazimeen in Khanewal.
The Hiraj group not even secured the district top slot but its candidate Zafar Hiraj defeated the Syeds in their home Kabirwala tehsil.
The loser from Syed group in the district was Syed Khawar Ali Shah and at tehsil Syed Faisal Imam, cousin and brother of Fakhr Imam, respectively.
Fakhr Imam is also contesting from NA-158 (Khanewal-III). NA-156 comprised Kabirwala tehsil and the PML-QA leader is facing challenge from PPP’s Barrister Raza Hayat Hiraj.
Rao Farman Ali of the PML-N, Maulana Iftikhar Haqani of the MMA and independent candidate Mehr Afzal are in the run but the competition is between arch rivals, the Syed and the Hiraj.
NA-163, SAHIWAL-IV: Six candidates are in the run from this Chichawatani tehsil constituency. The main contestants are Begum Shahnaz Javed of the PPP and Millat Party chief Sardar Farooq Leghari.
Apart from the support of Langrial family of the area and a green signal from the power corridors,, what has prompted the Leghari tribe chief to pitch against the ‘strong lady’ of Sahiwal is a 100-million-dollar question.
A former MNA, Begum Shahnaz gave tough time to the Rai family in the local bodies polls in the district and managed to secure Chichawatani Tehsil nazim office for her group.
Her industrialist husband, Sheikh Javed Rafi, is also contesting election this time from NA-162 (Sahiwal-III) on PPP ticket.
Mr Leghari has also filed his nomination papers from NA-172 (DG Khan-II), his hometown, where his Baloch tribe has a sizable vote bank.
The delimitation for the forthcoming general elections is conducted in Vehari in a way that the NA-130 stronghold of the PML-N stalwart Begum Tehmina Daultana has been divided into two National Assembly seats — NA-163 and NA-169. She is contesting from both the constituencies.
She is facing her cousin and Mumtaz Daultana’s daughter, Begum Shahida Daultana and Ishaq Khakwani of the PPP and the PML-QA, respectively. However, being not so hopeful of the outcome of this constituency, Tehmina is reportedly concentrating only on NA-169.
NA-179, MUZAFFARGARH-IV: Four of the five contestants here are equally-poised to make entry in the National Assembly. Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan’s son Ibrar Ahmed Khan is contesting on the ticket of his father’s Pakistan Democratic Party against Syed Basit Sultan Bokhari of the PML-Q, Syed Jamil Ahmed Bokhari of the PML-N and Sardar Abdul Qayyum Jatoi of the PPP.
It is surprising that both the PPP and the PML-N have fielded strong candidates against their mentor’s son. Leaders of these two main components of the ARD say that their parties have not fielded any candidate against the Nawabzada’s nominee in NA-178, which mainly comprised stronghold areas of the ARD chief.
NA-187, BAHAWALPUR-V: PML-Z’s chief Ijazul Haq and PPP stalwart Aitzaz Ahsan are among the five contestants from this constituency.
Both the ‘aliens’ are trying their luck owing to the presence of a sizable vote bank of non-Seraiki settlers’ communities in Yazman. The PML-N and PML-QA have also fielded candidates but the analysts are interested to see the fate of the two political heavyweights of the national politics.
NA-190, BAHAWALNAGAR-III: Former federal ministers Abdul Sattar Laleka of the PML-QA and Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, independent, are among the nine candidates in the contest in this constituency.
Laleka had shown guts in the local bodies elections as present District nazim Ali Akbar Waince belongs to his group.
NA-192, RAHIM YAR KHAN-I: Former federal minister and the late Ziaul Haq’s constitutional wizard Haji Saifullah Khan is contesting on PPP ticket against PPP-dissident Makhdoom Ahmed Alam Anwar who is vying as an independent candidate but with the support of the PML-QA.
The third candidate in this constituency is MMA’s Mian Zubair Ahmad Deenpuri.