Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan President Sahibzada Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair. PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to withdraw its candidate for NA-227 Hyderabad in favour of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) president Sahibzada Abul Khair Muhammad Zubair in return for the JUP's support to PPP candidate Chaudhry Manzoor in Kasur district in Punjab.
The decision has ended the party's maiden prospects of winning votes from the Urdu speaking community in City and Latifabad talukas, which formerly supported the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
"I have been told to withdraw in favour of Sahibzada Zubair," Irfan Gul Magsi, the PPP candidate for NA-227, told The Express Tribune on Thursday. Confirming that he had accepted the party's decision, Magsi ruled out the option of contesting as an independent candidate.
Magsi, whose elder sister Rahila Magsi is a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senator, was told that the decision had been taken as a quid pro quo under which Zubair's disciples and supporters in Kasur will vote for the PPP candidate.
However, the Hyderabad chapter of the PPP seems unhappy with the decision. According to Magsi and PPP Hyderabad Spokesperson Ahsan Abro, the Hyderabad chapter has informed the party that its decision to withdraw from NA-227 would affect the campaign of its candidates in other constituencies.
Palijo claims two dozen PPP leaders in contact with GDA
According to Magsi, the withdrawal will impinge on the ongoing campaign in Hyderabad city based PS-66 and PS-67 constituencies where former senator Aajiz Dhamrah and Muhammad Saghir Qureshi have filed their nomination papers respectively.
"The position of Magsi and both the PS candidates is growing strong. [In contrast] Zubair's votes in NA 227 are far lower than the PPP votes," Abro said.
The decision to withdraw from NA-227 came after Zubair met on Tuesday PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zarfari in Lahore and the two sides agreed on the seat adjustment.
JUP Spokesperson Dr Younus Danish told The Express Tribune that the JUP has fielded as many as 60 candidates for the seats of national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan. He added that NA-227 was one of the most important constituencies for the party as the party head was contesting elections from there.
Zubair was elected MNA from the same constituency in 2002 on the ticket of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) after defeating MQM stalwart Aftab Shaikh. Except the elections of 2002 and 1993, in which MQM boycotted the polls, the national assembly seat has always gone to the MQM since 1988. In the 1993 elections, PPP candidate Qazi Asad Amir emerged victorious.
MMA-GDA deal
Meanwhile, MMA candidate for PS-62 Qasimabad, Azam Jahangiri, withdrew his candidature on Thursday in favour of Grand Democratic Alliance General Secretary Ayaz Latif Palijo. During a joint press conference with Palijo, Jahangiri and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam Hyderabad Molana Taj Muhammad Nahiyon informed the media that JUI-F central chief Fazlur Rehman and Sindh chief Rashid Mehmood Soomro directed them to support Palijo.
"We will go door to door to support Ayaz Palijo in the elections," assured Nahiyon. Former naib nazim of Qasimabad, Mehboob Abro, also announced his support for Palijo on the occasion.
Palijo, who will be contesting against PPP former local government minister Jam Khan Shoro, has already won the support of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and some other groups.
The GDA wanted to unite Sindh against PPP's corruption, said Palijo. "We will soon demolish the forts of corruption in Sindh," he added.
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