PPP candidate levels accusations against poll officers in Shikarpur

Sardar Bhayo alleges that they are biased against PPP and might influence electoral outcomes.

SUKKUR: Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sardar Wahid Bux Bhayo has alleged that the district returning officer and returning officer of Shikarpur are biased against the party and should be removed from their posts.

Bhayo, who is contesting the elections for NA-203 Shikarpur, made these accusations during a joint press conference with other PPP candidates in Shikarpur on Sunday. He alleged that Shikarpur DRO Mushtaq Ahmed Kalwar, his stenographer Anwar Memon and his reader Manthar Mahar, are siding with PPP rivals in the elections instead of being impartial. He also made the same claims against Shikarpur RO Syed Ghulam Shah and his stenographer Abdul Ghaffar Brohi.

“These officers might give the ballot papers to PPP’s rivals in advance before the elections,” said Bhayo, adding that 46 polling stations in Garhi Yasin have been set up in small villages rather than the big ones, which is in violation of the provisions of the election commission. “DRO Kalwar and RO Shah have not listened to our requests to relocate the stations even though we complained a number of times.”



During the conference, Bhayo also called upon the election commissioner, the prime minister and the provincial election commissioner to remove these officers to ensure that the elections were free and fair.

“The Piyaro Khan Bhayo village in Shikarpur contains more than 100 houses and has primary schools for boys and girls,” Bhayo told The Express Tribune. “Instead of establishing a polling station there, the officers have set up a station in Arif Abad village which consists of only 10 houses.” He also alleged that the polling station in Sikandar Mahar village has been built in the courtyard of a landlord while no station has been built in Tanwri Goth, which contained 200 houses.

Bhayo claimed that his opponent, Ghous Bux Mahar, who is contesting the elections as a Pakistan Muslim League-Functional candidate, defeated him in the 2008 elections by rigging 47 polling stations. “The election tribunal had upheld my appeal against the rigging and had ordered for the polls to be held again.” Bhayo felt that Mahar had sent members of his party to secure favours with DRO Kalwar.

Mahar denied all of these allegations. “I met DRO Kalwar and RO Shah only once when I went to submit my nomination papers for the elections,” he said. “The court ordered re-elections for NA-203 after the rigging charges in 2008,” he added. “But I won them again because I have genuine support in the constituency.”

A number of other candidates of PPP, including Kamran Khan Mahar who is contesting the elections for PS-10 and Agha Masihuddin Durrani who is contesting for PS-9, also spoke at the conference.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2013.