Arbab Rahim’s nephew joins PPP

Arbab Lutfullah to contest for Zardari party from Tharparkar in 2018 elections

HYDERABAD: Pulling an important member of Tharparkar's politically influential Arbab family into its fold, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is looking forward to consolidating its hold in the coal-rich desert district.

Arbab Lutfullah – a nephew of former chief minister Sindh and PPP's archrival Arbab Ghulam Rahim – announced joining the PPP at a public meeting in Khaitlari, Tharparkar on Monday.

Underlining the political significance of the development, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, MNA Faryal Talpur, former CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah, six provincial ministers and other leaders attended the event.



"It's a new turn in Tharparkar's politics which augurs well for the people," said Faryal while recalling old association of her father Hakim Ali Zardari and father-in-law Mir Ali Baksh Talpur with Lutfullah's father Arbab Ameer Hassan.

"There was a time in Tharparkar when there were no roads and no water. But PPP's government connected all parts of the district through roads and installed hundreds of RO [reverse osmosis] plants to provide water to the people," she said.

The PPP began to make inroads in the coal-rich desert, spread over 22,000 square kilometers, in the 2008 general election. It secured one of the four seats of the Sindh Assembly on which Sharjeel Inam Memon was elected. All the three remaining seats of the Sindh Assembly and two of the National Assembly were won by candidates belonging to the Arbab family.

However, the tables were turned in 2013 and the PPP leapfrogged from just one seat to five seats, leaving the Arbab family with only one provincial assembly seat on which former CM Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim was elected.

"Arbab Lutfullah would have certainly faced pressure from the family but he courageously made the right decision to join the PPP in the interest of the people of Tharparkar," said Faryal.



She sounded sure that Lutfullah's joining would open a new chapter of development in the area. She also requested the chief minister to appoint lady health workers for the district.

The CM said the people of Tharparkar acknowledged that it was only PPP’s governments that served the poor people of the district and carried out development activities.

Airport

Earlier, the CM’s aircraft landed at the runway of the Islamkot Airport in Tharparkar in what was the first touchdown at the near-completion airport. He also visited the Thar coalfield to review the coalmining and power generation projects.