HYDERABAD, Sept 29: With the general elections only 10 days away, the electioneering has picked up momentum in the city.
However, the election activities are still devoid of feverish pitch witnessed during the previous polls.
According to the local leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, their leader, Benazir Bhutto, is likely to speak at a local public meeting on telephonic on Oct 4. However, venue of the meeting has not been finalized since the biggest grounds in the city, GTC ground and Niaz Stadium, have been declared “out of bounds” for the election meetings.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief, Altaf Hussain, is also expected to speak at another public meeting in Qasimabad on telephone soon.
The Muttahida’s future in the city depends upon the outcome of results of elections for NA-220 and NA-219.
In the former constituency, the Muttahida’s Aftab Ahmed Shaikh is pitched against Sahibzada Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
The Muttahida has held sway over this constituency since its emergence, except for the 1993 general elections when it had boycotted the National Assembly elections.
There are many grey areas in the record of the Muttahida, which are being exploited to the hilt by the MMA.
The level of attendance in the MMA corner meetings indicates that the party has made inroads in the Muttahida strongholds, especially in Phuleli and Paretabad area.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan as well as the Jamaat-i-Islami held considerable sway in this constituency in the past and they are trying to regroup their forces.
Nevertheless, no one should underestimate power of the Muttahida’s cadre.
The 12 other candidates in the field will prove to be a bane for the MMA and a boon for the Muttahida. These candidates include Mohammad Irfan Qureshi (PPP), Shabbir Hussain Hashmi (PML-Q), Shahzad Hussain (PAT), Sharif (Sunni Tehrik), Mir Haider Ali Talpur (PTI), Abdul Qadeer Ansari ( MQM) Mohammad Hanif Siddiqui (PML-N) and Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh (PML-Q).
The candidates of the PPP, PML-Q, PML-N, ST, PTI and PAT can best be termed “vote spoilers.”