By:Majeed Gill
Senior Journalist Bahawalpur
The ruling PML.N may
not have the best of chances of making an impact in Bahawalpur’s local government polls due to grouping s and rifts at various levels.
Other parties like the
Pakistan Tehreek –i-Insaf (PTI) also have their
problems but differences among
the PML.N ‘s prominent figures are all
too visible .
Many of the party’s MPs
here have formed their own group In their
respective residential areas besides the factions of its former office , bearers and law makers and each
of them is trying to strengthen his
position to have a majority of his supporters elected and win the slots of
chairman of district council and
mayor of the would be corporation .
Minister of state for Education
Baleeghur Rehman has his support base
here but Senator Saood Majeed a
prominent figure of Yazman , does not feel comfortable with him. The Saood
Majeed group has retained its
supremacy in the Bahawalpur Chamber of
commerce and Industry (BCCI) election by
defeating the Baleegh group. Both live in the city to enhance their respective strengths
and give a tough time to each other in the upcoming elections.
Saood Majeed has deep
political interests in Yazman tehsil,
from where he had contested on a PML-N
ticket for the National Assembly
seat but was defeated by PML-Q’s Tariq Cheema in the 2013 elections.
This time too (LG
elections), both Tariq Cheema and Saood Majeed could lock horns in Yazman. It
is expected that a tough fight could be seen between the support-ers of Saood
Majeed and PML-N ‘s provincial parliamentary secretary MPA Khalid Jajja and
PML-Q’s Tariq Cheema and MPA Dr.M.Afzal .The
biradari factor also counts in the city the PML-N’other leaders like
Punjab Minister for Cooperative Malik M. Iqbal Channar and former MPA Samiullah Chaudhry already
have their own groups. Reports emerged
that they were trying to capture the
slots of the chairman (District Council) and mayor (municipal corporation).
Malik Channar, who is enjoying the minister ship in
the cabinet of Shahbaz Sharif for the
eighth consecutive year, stands a
good chance of winning major support. He
had been elected twice from the city ‘s
provincial assembly seat , which is mainly known as Seraiki belt ,where he is actively executing mega Projects of
civil hospital and the construction of southern by pass besides the proposed
children hospital on Jhangiwali Road.This may
give a boost to his group in the election.
In Ahmedpur East tehsil
and UCh Sharif (Sub-Tehsil), the group
of MNA Makhdoom Syed Ali Gilani (PML-N),MPA s
Makhdoom Iftikhar Gilani of the Bahawalpur National Awami Party(BNAP),
MPA Qazi Adnan Farid (PLM-N),MNA Syed Najeeb
OWaisi and Shoaib Owaisi have a large number of followers being the
Sajjada Nasheen family of Khanqah Sharif . There are chance that the group
members belonging to federal minister Mian Riaz Hussain Peerzada comprising his nephew MPA Kazim Peer zada and
MPA Afzal Gill (PML-N) ;may play decisive role
in the district council and municipal committee Hasilpur elections.
Among other parties, the Jammat –i-Islami seems
active in various pockets of the district such as city ,Yazman and Head Rajkan
and may be able to bag seats in some of the areas.
The PTI also faces friction although Farzand Ali
goheer and his associates have managed
to pull on the party despite opposition
within the party itself and may be in a position to field some of the candidates . One of the PTI’s
activists,Sheikh Abbas Raza,had recently parted ways owing to differences with
other office –bearers.
Both JUI(Fazal Group)
and JUP are in the cotest but have not much support base.
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