HYDERABAD: Syed Tayyab Hussain and Syed Sohail Mehmood aka Sohail Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Tuesday took the oath as the mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC).

Returning officer (RO) Qamaruddin Shaikh administered the oath at a ceremony held at Mehran Arts Council in Latifabad. District returning officer Aijaz Anwar Chohan and Deputy Commissioner Motasim Abbasi, besides leaders and elected representatives belonging to the MQM, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and other parties, attended the ceremony.

The oath taking was followed by pro-MQM, ‘Jeay Mohajir’ and ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans raised by the candidates and the audience.

Speaking briefly to the audience and media, Mr Hussain pledged to serve the people of Hyderabad without any discrimination. He said he would even beg for th city’s betterment, and urged people to cooperate with him in running the city’s affairs in an efficient manner.

He, however, observed that he had become the mayor when political conditions were peculiar and there was suffocation.

Tayyab Hussain is MQM’s second mayor for Hyderabad after Aftab Ahmed Sheikh, who held this position after the 1987 local bodies elections. His predecessor, Moin Khan, (taluka nazim) belonged the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan led by Allama Shah Ahmed Noorani. PPP’s Dr Makhdoom Rafik Zaman served as the district nazim of undivided Hyderabad and later MQM’s Kanwar Naveed Jamil was elected the district nazim of present day Hyderabad district.

At a separate ceremony, RO Shakeel Abro administered the oath to PPP’s Badar Memon and Bilal Leghari as the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Hyderabad district council. The ceremony was held in the district council hall.

For the Qasimabad municipal committee, RO Ghulam Murtaza Memon administered the oath to PPP’s Kashif Shoro and Iqbal Soomro as its chairman and vice chairman, respectively, at a ceremony held in Sindh Museum. Mr Shoro’s elder brother and provincial minister Jam Khan Shoro, Abdul Jabbar Khan, Zahid Bhurgari, Abdul Jabbar Khan and other PPP leaders and councillors were present.

Makhdoom Fakhr Zaman, son of PPP MPA Dr Makhdoom Rafik Zaman, took the oath as the Matiari district council chairman and Saleh Mohammad Shah as the vice chairman at a ceremony held in the council hall while in Tando Mohammad Khan PPP’s Syed Mohammad Saeed Shah and Sher Amin Lakho took the oath as the chairman and vice chairman of their district council, respectively, at a similar ceremony.

PPP’s Ali Mohammad Walhari and Mir Mohammad Ghulam took the oath as chairman and vice chairman of the Tando Allahyar district council while Syed Imdad Shah, the brother-in-law of PPP MPA Zia Abbas Shah, and Shahid Jaffar Kaimkhani took the oath as chairman and vice chairman of the Tando Allahyar municipal committee. Malik Shahnawaz, who is the brother of PPP MNA Malik Asad Sikandar, took the oath as Jamshoro district council chairman along with Sadiq Shoro, a cousin of provincial minister Dr Sikandar Shoro, as the vice chairman.

SUKKUR: PPP’s Arsalan Islam Shaikh and Tariq Chauhan, who were elected unopposed as the mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, took the oath of their offices at the Sukkur Municipal Corporation building on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner Sukkur Dr Waheed Asghar Bhatti administered the oath after which Commissioner Mohammed Abbas Baloch handed over the symbolic key of Sukkur to the new mayor.

Aslam Sshaikh and Shahzaib Shah were administered the oath as the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Sukkur district council by Additional Deputy Comm­issioner Rana Adeel at a ceremony held in the DC office.

Separate ceremonies were held at the elected houses and of various municipal committees in Sukkur, Jacobabad, Ghotki and Kandhkot-Kashmore districts to administer the oath to the newly elected chairmen and vice chairmen.PPP leaders, activists and supporters took part in a rallies taken out in Sukkur, Rohri, Salehpat, Bagarji, Kandhra and other towns to welcome the new mayor and deputy mayor as well as the chairmen and vice chairmen of the district council and municipal committees.

LARKANA: PPP’s Muham­mad Aslam Shaikh and Anwar Ali Luhar took the oath as the mayor and deputy mayor of Larkana, respectively, at a ceremony held in the Shahnawaz Bhutto Library here on Tuesday.

Larkana Assistant Commissio­ner Masaud Bhutto administered the oath.

Khan Muhammad Sanghroo and Abdul Hayee Shah took the oath as the chairman and vice chairman of the Larkana district council separately. Additional Deputy Commissioner-II Ameer Ali Mirani administered the oath.

The chairman and vice chairmen of the Rato Dero and Naudero municipal committees also took the oath.

Later, the elected representatives belonging to the PPP proceeded to Garhi Khuda Bukhsh Bhutto along with their supporters and offered fateha at the graves of Bhuttos.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2016