SARGODHA, Aug 26: Although Awam Khidmat Mahaz headed by federal parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sher Afgan got a slight majority in Mianwali, the Rokhris were still awaiting a miracle to get the coveted district nazim slot.
Impartial observers say Awam Khidmat Mahaz has won in 26 out of 56 union councils, but Dr Sher Afgan claims to have won in 36 UCs and like the Rokhris he was also optimistic that some independents would join his group to enable it to for the district government.
Dr Sher Afgan’s son in law Amir Amanullah Khan was defeated in his native Watta Khel village UC 19 by Saeed Ullah Khan backed by Rokhari group.
Nawab of Kalabgh (Malik Asad) was among those who stood with Rokhris in this tug of war. The Rokhris are expecting to win the favour of independent candidates. Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has okayed the name of Humair Rokhri for Nazim’s slot.
Another upset in the district was that MNA Imran Khan, chief of Tehrik-i-Insaf, could get only one union council, Tola Bhangi Khel, in his constituency NA 71 out of total 27 union councils.
For the district nazim slot, the Awam Khidmat Mahaz is expected to field either former naib-nazim Amjad Khan or former MNA Ubaidullah Khan Shadi Khel. Rokhari group has nominated Haji Abdul Karim Bondanwala, a multimillionaire, for Mianwali tehsil nazim slot while for Piplan tehsil the group’s nominee will be Faqir Abdul Majeed.
Meanwhile, the Niwanis have alleged that despite enjoying PML privileges the Shahani had been supporting PML-N and MMA men. They also demanded that Shahanis should be subjected to strict accountability for irregularities.
BHAKKAR DIST: The Niwani group has swept the local polls in the district by bagging 14 out of 17 union councils of Bhakkar tehsil, while the Khidmat Mahaz comprising Dhandlas, former MPA Najeeb Ullah Niazi, Masti Khels (PML-N) and Shahanis (PML-Q) could succeed only in four UCs.
The major upset in the district was the defeat of Ehsanullah Shahani, uncle of Punjab Sports Minister Naeemullah Shahani, by a Niwani alliance nominee, in his native Katchi Shahani UC from where Shahanis used to get elected unopposed. Similarly, Masti Khel group was also defeated in its native Jandawala union councils in Kallur Kot tehsil, while Niwani alliance for the first time got a clean sweep in Bhakkar tehsil’s urban and rural union councils.
In Mankera tehsil, Niwanis bagged four out of seven UCs, while polling in two union councils Mahni and Blinda was suspended, which will now be held on Sept 1.
However, in Kallur Kot tehsil, Niwani group’s performance was not so impressive, which provided an opportunity to Dhandla- Shahani alliance to bag half of the total 10 UCs. So the both groups won five seats of nazims and naib-nazims each.
Former district nazim Hameed Akbar Niwani and provincial prisons’ minister Saeed Akbar Niwani claim that they have a majority of councillors on their side, hence they have an edge in Kallur Kot tehsil. They further claimed that besides district nazim, their group would also field candidate for tehsil nazim.
Niwani Alliance also got clear majority in Darya Khan tehsil by bagging six out of the eight union councils.
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