UC-35 Rang Mahal: ‘My opponent is a turncoat’

PTI man says he was swayed by Imran Khan to leave Jamaat-i-Islami

LAHORE:

Candidates from the Rang Mehal Union Council-35, which is one of 25 UCs of the city where a neck-and-neck contest is expected between the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, claim victory will be theirs in the forthcoming elections slated to be conducted on October 31.

Only two panels, one supported by the PTI and the other supported by the PML-N are contesting the elections. Areas in the UC include Mohalla Chiri Maran, Mohallan Katra Barkat Ali, Sootar Mandi, Wachho Wali Bazaar, Bazaar Joray Mori, Shah Alam Electric Market, Shisha Moti Bazaar, Kucha Chah Telian, Shoe Market and Androon Lohari Gate. Previously, UC-35 was a part of UC-28 that was later delimitated into two different UCs.  The number of  registered voters in the UC is 11,609, over 4,000 of which are women. In the 2005 local government elections, Arif Naseem Kashmiri was elected as the UC-35 nazim. Kashmiri is now vying for the chairmanship of Shah Alam UC-34 from the PML-N’s platform. UC-35 falls under NA-119 and PP-142. Hamza Shahbaz and Salman Rafique were elected from the two constituencies respectively.

The PML-N’s candidate for the UC-35 chairman is Haji Muhammad Hanif. He had previously served as a counsellor in 1990 and 1998. Hanif was also elected as the Zone 4 deputy mayor. He had contested both elections on the PML-N’s platform. His son Idrees Hanif was elected naib nazim in 2005 from the platform of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). Jamil Sharif is the PML-N’s candidate for the vice chairmanship of the UC.

The PTI’s Shahid Bilal and Amir Younas have been gunning for the chairman and vice chairman slots. Shahid Bilal had contested elections from the UC as aspiring counsellor in 2001 and emerged victorious against the PML-N’s Salman Rafique. He had also contested the 2005 local government elections in which he was defeated. He said he had contested the elections from the Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI’s) platform.

Bilal said he had parted ways with the JI after being swayed by the vision of PTI chief Imran Khan. He said the PTI had been trying to rid the nation of the PML-N. Bilal said he would strive to serve the people to the best of his abilities. Replying to a question, he said he would try his best to ensure the provision of clean drinking water in the UC. Taking a pot shot at his rival, he said Haji Hanif was a turncoat with fickle loyalties.

The PML-N’s Hanif said he had contested two elections on the party’s ticket. He said his son had been elected from the PML-Q’s platform. Hanif said they had joined the PML-N in 2013 on the insistence of party leaders. Calling the PML-Q a spent force, he said he could not be expected to write his own political epitaph. He said he had the right to join any political party in such circumstances. Voter Amir Sohail told The Express Tribune that the easy availability of narcotics and inferior quality of potable water were just two of the many problems confronting residents in the UC. Sohail said he was a staunch supporter of the PML-N and had voted for it in the 2013 general elections but would now vote for the PTI.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2015.