PPP candidates accuse Arbab Ghulam of blocking access

Engr Gianchand alleges Arbab intends to use his private militia to stop PPP voters.

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Engineer Gianchand has alleged that former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and his supporters have hatched a plan to block voters’ access, particularly those belonging to minorities, at polling stations.

Gianchand, a PPP candidate from PS-60 in Diplo, Tharparkar, has written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, in which he has said Rahim has resorted to highhandedness and has instructed his private militia to take over all sandy tracks in the deserts of Diplo tehsil and stop PPP supporters from casting their votes, after sensing a sure defeat in the first free and fair polls in 60 years.

Gianchand, a member of the scheduled caste, said that armed gangs have been asked to block all routes and hold PPP voters hostage in areas that lack communication network. According to him, the plot basically targets polling stations in Khetlari, Bolhari and Sobhiyar union councils.



Gianchand requested the CEC to issue clear directives to all authorities to ensure that voters are not restricted.

He also diverted his attention towards the fact that over a dozen polling stations for NA-229 and PS-60 have been established around 10 to 15 kilometres away from settled areas in clear violation of Supreme Court directives.   In a separate complaint, Surrendar Valasai, a PPP candidate on reserved seat for provincial assembly, has alleged that Rahim’s men plan to disturb mobile phone services on May 11 by taking over communication towers.

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