Mirpurkhas division: dissidents, GDA frighten PPP

GDA, MQM-P, PTI, the Syeds and Arbabs unite against PPP

HYDERABAD: For the five National Assembly and 11 Sindh Assembly seats in the Mirpurkhas division, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is pitted against a league of its own dissidents, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

Mindful of the slender win of the PPP on three of the five NA constituencies in 2013 and the vote split which paved the way in the fourth one, the party's opponents have clumped together.

The coalition comprises GDA, MQM-P and the Syeds, among other local players, in Mirpurkhas, while in Tharparkar GDA, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Arbabs have joined forces. In Umerkot district, GDA, PTI and Arbabs have united against the PPP.



Mirpurkhas

A tough electoral contest is underway in one NA and three PS constituencies in the district among the PPP, MQM-P, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), PTI, GDA and the Syeds.

On NA-218, PPP stalwart and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's associate, Syed Ali Nawaz Shah, after being denied a ticket by the party, has thrown down the gauntlet to PPP's candidate Pir Hassan Ali Shah as an independent candidate.

Shah, a former federal and provincial minister who has been elected to the Senate, national and Sindh assemblies since 1977 several times, has received backing of both GDA and MQM-P. The latter withdrew its candidate in Shah's support. The PTI's Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, PSP's Raees Ahmed Khan and MMA's Hafiz Fayazul Hassan are also among the contestants.

Shah and his son, Syed Shuja Shah, are also vying on two PS seats, PS-48 and PS-49 respectively. The GDA and MQM-P are also supporting them in these constituencies where PPP's Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah and Noor Ahmed Bhurgari respectively are their main contenders.

Meanwhile, the MQM-P, backed by the alliance and Syeds, is defending its Mirpurkhas city based PS-47, formerly PS-64 and PS-50, constituency which it has successively won five times since 1993. The party's electoral dominance has been challenged by the PPP's Hari Ram Kishori Lal and PSP's Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani.

Lal is believed to benefit from the recent delimitation under which a large number of Sindhi voters were added in the previously Urdu-speaking community controlled constituency. A large number of voters belonging to the Hindu community are also expected to vote for this candidate.

Qaimkhani, a former MPA of MQM-P, has received the backing of PTI whose candidate was withdrawn to avoid the vote split among the two parties.

The PPP's Mir Munawar Ali Talpur and GDA's Arbab Ghulam Rahim, the former chief minister of Sindh, are in competition for the NA-219 seat while Rahim's son, Arbab Inayatullah, is fighting on the GDA's ticket against PPP's Mir Tariq Ali Talpur on the PS-50 seat.

The total population of Mirpurkhas stands at 1,505,876 with 1,080,124 rural and 425752 urban residents while 695,834 citizens are registered to vote.

Tharparkar

In the district which has emerged as a magnet for new investment thanks to its massive coal reserves, the PPP began to make inroads in 2008 by winning only one PS seat. The imprisoned former provincial minister Sharjeel Inam Memon was elected on that seat.

It grabbed five of the six seats in the district which had until then remained a stronghold of the Arbabs. The former CM Rahim remained the only family member who could secure a PS seat.

In 2018's election campaign, GDA, PTI and the Arbabs have formed a common front against PPP with the Arbabs given five of the six tickets by the alliance. On the sixth seat, NA-221, PTI Vice Chairperson Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi is contending against PPP's Pir Noor Muhammad Shah Jeelani.

In the 2013 elections, former MNA Jeelani secured a marginal victory against Qureshi, bagging around 2,000 more votes than the latter. The PTI accused the PPP of rigging the elections. PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his recent public meeting in Nangarparkar, described Qureshi as a candidate who has been imported from Punjab.

In NA-222, the one-on-one contest is between PPP's Mahesh Kumar Malani and GDA's Arbab Zakaullah. In the last general election, the constituency, which was then named NA-229, elected Faqir Sher Muhammad Bilalani of PPP as the MNA. However, he also won with a margin of around 2,000 votes against his opponent Arbab Fawab Razzque Togachi, who polled about 86,000 votes.



In two constituencies of the Sindh Assembly, PS-54 and PS-55, the PPP's local leaders who were denied the party's tickets have also landed in the otherwise PPP versus GDA electoral fray. The two independent candidates, Pir Imdad Ali Shah and Abdul Ghani Khoso, are believed to trouble their former party's vote bank. The other potential candidates in PS-54 are Dost Muhammad Rahimon of PPP and Abdul Razzaq Rahimon of GDA and GDA's Arbab Anwar Jabbar and PPP's Muhammad Qasim Soomro in PS-55.

The candidates in PS-56 include PPP's Fakir Sher Muhammad Bilalani, GDA Arbab Togachi Fawad Razaque and independent candidate Lajpat Bheel. Rahim is also contesting from PS-57 against his nephew Arbab Lutfullah of PPP.

The district's population is 1,649,661 while 574,205 people are registered to vote.

Umerkot

PTI's leader Qureshi is also a candidate for NA-220, the only NA seat in Umerkot. He also contended on the same seat in 2013 and polled 86,134 votes against 99,700 of the winning candidate of PPP, Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur. The two leaders are once again locked in an electoral battle.

Former provincial minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah of PPP is vying against GDA's Faqir Muhammad Jadim Mangrio in PS-62 while Rahim is also a contestant in PS-52 against PPP's Syed Ali Mardan Shah. In the third provincial assembly constituency, the main contest is seen between PPP's Muhammad Taimur Talpur and PTI's Dost Muhammad.

As many as 461,867 people are registered to vote in the district, which has a population of 1,073,146.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2018.