GUJRAT, Nov 14: Those who filed (now cancelled) nomination papers for the local polls for various slots in the district complain of discriminatory attitude of the returning officers (ROs) and their staff vis-à-vis the aspirants enjoying backing of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Most of the ROs were found according VIP protocol to the aspiring candidates having affiliation with the PML-N when they visited their offices to file nomination papers.

The ruling party aspirants were not only given access to the nomination papers filed by their rival candidates but in some cases they were also allowed entry into their offices through their retiring rooms to save them the inconvenience of standing in long queues.

Official sources said a ruling party MPA and a brother of an MNA visited the Lalamusa city RO office on Tuesday evening where they were provided complete record of the nomination papers that had been filed during the last three days. Some 200 candidates had filed their nomination papers for the total 24 wards of the Lalamusa municipal committee.

Another local leader of the PML-N who visited the Gujrat municipal committee office was allegedly shown the record of the nomination papers filed by more than 400 candidates for the city’s total 50 wards.

Similarly, the sources said, when a local businessman-turned-politician belonging to the ruling party was accorded a very warm welcome by the ROs when he arrived at the office for submitting his nomination papers for a city ward along with two MPAs.

During a visit to the office of an RO, the staff was witnessed helping some candidates in avoiding the long queue for submitting the nomination papers while the others had to wait for hours for the purpose. Some of the aspiring candidates tried to raise their voice against the discrimination but their protest was ignored by the officials concerned.

Such privilege was not only reserved for the ruling party aspirants but also for other influential candidates who were on ‘good terms’ with the ROs or their staff.

Irfan Safi, a former union council nazim from Lalamusa city, who has filed his nomination papers for a ward this time, said there had been no discipline in the office of the RO since the candidates belonging to the ruling party were given access through the officer’s retiring room door. Other candidates lodged a strong protest against such conduct.

Chaudhry Saleem Sarwar Jaura, a local Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader, said the opposition parties had already expressed their reservations over the appointment of the district and tehsil administration officials as ROs, fearing discrimination. He said their concerns proved true in the delimitation process as well as during the filing of nomination papers. He said such conduct of the electoral staff had put a big question mark on the transparency and fairness of the local electoral process.

Mr Jaura said the ECP, after announcing revision of the local polls schedule, should also appoint its own officials as ROs instead of leaving the job to the district administration which was mostly hand in glove with the ruling party local leaders.