Warning to withdraw: PTI LG candidate in Hyderabad receives threat with a bullet

Zehra's son is contending on seat of chairperson from Hyderabad UC 67 in one-on-one contest against a candidate of MQM

HYDERABAD: A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate contesting the local government elections from Latifabad town has received a threat to withdraw. The letter, written in Urdu, also contained a bullet.

“Last warning. Withdraw the panel. Otherwise, this bullet can land in the chest of your son," stated the letter addressed to PTI's women wing leader Syeda Tasneem Zehra. Her son, Syed Ehtisham, is contending on the seat of chairperson from Hyderabad union committee (UC) 67 in a one-on-one contest against a candidate of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Talking to The Express Tribune over the phone, Zehra claimed that an MQM MPA, Sabir Qaimkhani, visited her residence along with some other local leaders of the party few weeks ago. “Although they tried to convince me that we [PTI] will lose [the elections from UC 67] and that it is better for us to withdraw, they conveyed a tacit threat," she said. "They also warned me that my husband will face problems at his police job."



According to Zehra, her husband Muhammad Yaqoob is posted at SITE police station.

Qaimkhani also spoke to The Express Tribune over the phone and confirmed that he visited Zehra's house. "But we went there on her invitation,” he said. “She wanted to talk about electoral adjustment." He claimed that the PTI leader offered conditional support in the UC to the MQM if the party gave a ticket to her daughter, Syeda Saman Zehra, on one of the seats and supported her son, who would continue to contest on the PTI ticket. Saman has filed nomination on ward 1 of UC 67 for the seat of general member.

The mother claimed, however, that the MQM asked her to withdraw her children from the elections, offering a general member seat for her daughter-in-law in exchange. “I consider that the letter and the earlier visit are linked,” she said. Zehra has filed a complaint in A-Section police station but the FIR against the unknown dispatcher of the threat letter has yet to be lodged.



Qaimkhani was, however, saddened about the allegation.

The PTI is also part of the Tameer-i-Hyderabad Ittehad, an alliance of 10 political parties including Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Pakistan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, among others. The coalition has been formed to challenge the MQM.

The HMC consists of 96 UCs, each containing four wards, of the City and Latifabad talukas. The MQM's candidates for chairmen and vice chairmen have returned unopposed from 22 UCs and the PPP's from one. The elections are slated on November 19 as part of the second phase of local government elections.