HYDERABAD: Election symbols have been allotted to candidates in eight wards of the Cantonment Board Hyderabad (CBH) on Saturday, which shows that there would be mostly one-on-one electoral contest between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) candidates.

An interesting contest would take place between five candidates including Abdul Rehman, Umer Sharif Rajput and Abdul Sattar (independent), Moiz Abbas (MQM) and Mohammad Ibrahim Qureshi (PPP) in ward-4 with 2,327 voters.

Candidates belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) would be staking their claims in wards 2 and 7. The MQM has not fielded any candidate in ward-6.

Faqir Mohammad of the PPP and Nisar Ahmed of the MQM would be up against each other in ward-1 which has 2,135 registered voters. Four candidates — Mohammad Saleem Qureshi of the MQM, Mohammad Shakir the PPP, Mian Ajmal Shah of the PTI and one independent Akram Khan — are fighting for ward-2 which has 3,734 voters.

The contest is expected between Ibrahim Qureshi, Abdul Rehman, Umer Rajput and Moiz Abbas. Qureshi, a retired Sindh local government officer and elder son of famous Chacha Ismail Qabrastani (late), Moiz Abbas and Abdul Rehman are old residents of area. Qureshi’s family is historically associated with the PPP and the known one in the constituency called Saddar and Soldier Bazaar.

Rehman’s family has been with the PPP but they worked wholeheartedly for the PTI in the 2013 polls following new countrywide electoral wave in favour of the PTI so much so that PTI’s candidate Noor Murtaza Thebo led the vote count at an important polling station, usually set up in FG Boys School, on PS-47 (Qasimabad).

Umer Rajput, a known caterer, actually hails from Nawabshah and has been living here for business purposes, for over 15 years. Moiz Abbas comes from the Dawoodi Bohri community and is an active member of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI). But reports say that most of his community fellows/voters have shifted to Burhani Nagar which falls in other constituency.

Mohammad Iqbal Memon (MQM) and Nadeem Ahmed (PPP) are engaged in one-on-one fight in ward-5, having 2,533 voters. A triangular fight is to be seen in ward-6 between Abdul Jalil Memon of the PPP and independents Manzoor Baloch and Nasir Aziz. The ward has the smallest number of registered voters i.e., 945. Its areas mainly touch Hyderabad garrison, Tando Jehanian and Civil Lines.

Seven candidates would fight for ward-7 which has 3,275 registered voters. They are PPP’s Kazi Ashad Abbasi, nephew of former PPP MNA Kazi Asad Abid, Riaz Hussain (MQM), Syed Mohammad Ahmed Rashid (PTI) and independents Dr Illahi Bux, Saboor Baloch, Shaikh Abdul Qadir and Abdul Karim Khan.

MQM’s Abdul Rasheed would face Lal Rehman (PPP) in ward-9 — mainly comprising kutchi abadis including Mumtaz Colony, Ghausi Para, Deswali Mohalla, Hyder Chowk, Dawood Colony, Bacha Khan Chowk — with 6,422 registered voters.

This ward has the second highest number of voters (11,028) after the largest ward-10. Ward-10 that is having katchi abadis of Jinnah colony in unit-12 Latifabad, Mujahid and Iqbal colonies would witness a tough contest between PPP’s Adnan and MQM’s Syed Jamil Ahmed Rizvi.

The CBH used to have four wards previously which under new delimitation were converted into 10 wards, leading to an uneven distribution of voters. Areas considered katchi abadis form a largest ward-10 and ward-9 while the remaining constitute smaller wards. Other katchi abadis are Kumhar Para, Hur Camp etc.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2015

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