PESHAWAR, Feb 5: The NWFP caretaker government has directed district coordination officers (DCOs) and heads of public sector utility organisation to stop facilitating inaugural ceremonies of developmental schemes in the province till the polls.

According to sources in the government, through a circular the DCOs and heads of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) have been advised by the provincial chief secretary to stop or suspend inaugural ceremonies of uplift works, initiated by various candidates, till completion of the general election.

The chief secretary issued these directives in compliance with a letter from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last month along with a copy of complaint from Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a candidate from PF-12 (Nowshera) constituency.

According to the complaint, a PML-Q candidate from the same constituency reportedly had announced new projects of laying gas pipelines and installation of new transformers at the Union Council Khudrezi. Mr Hussain had requested the ECP to suspend the inaugural ceremonies till the polling process was completed. He also sought disqualification of the PML-Q candidate and initiation of action against the SNGPL and Pesco authorities for allegedly violating the ECP code of conduct.

The sources informed that the provincial government had also received similar complaints from other constituencies, where the candidates, mostly belonging to the PML-Q, were inaugurating uplift projects to ‘influence’ the voters.

“Initiation of uplift projects ahead of the general election is making electioneering a difficult job for the rival candidates, who believed that it could greatly influence the election process,” an observer said.A candidate from NA-4 (Peshawar-IV) constituency, where PML-Q provincial chief Amir Muqam is also in the run, complained that areas of the constituency had witnessed a number of new uplift projects recently. Similar reports were also coming from NA-3 (Peshawar-III), where another PML-Q candidate Intikhab Chamkani is contesting the polls. His father is a minister in the incumbent caretaker provincial cabinet.

Candidate Arbab Mohammad Zahir, brother of Nazim Town Council-4 Arbab Amir Ayub, is facing a ‘hard situation’ in the NA-4 constituency. Mr Zahir has been elected for three consecutive terms from the constituency. Mr Ayub accused that the PML-Q provincial leader had inaugurated a number of projects ranging from laying of gas pipelines to installation of transformers during the last three months.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Pesco conformed that they had received directives from the provincial government and “these instructions have been communicated to the concerned quarters for compliance.”