MULTAN, Aug 8: PPP’s central leader MNA Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the Punjab chief minister’s visit here on Sunday at the height of the election campaign was a blatant violation of code of conduct.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, he said the CM nominated the official candidate for the Multan city district government’s top slot in a press conference and made announcements about the future development programmes to be carried out in the area. “Multan is perhaps the first district in the province where the government has brazenly announced its candidate for the top district office,” he added.

He alleged that the government used top-ranking officials posted in Multan to force local leaders of PML-N to change their loyalties and join the ruling PML-Q.

“The (CM’s) visit was an effort to boost the failing campaign of the official nominees,” he commented.

He claimed the situation in Multan was favourable for the opposition parties because PPP had taken lead here to strike seat-to-seat adjustment with PML-N and MMA under the banner of Awam Dost Group for 112 of 129 union councils of the district while the ruling PML-Q was facing serious intra-party factionalism here.

He said the difference in the ruling party became evident during the CM’s visit as its local leadership could not sit together under one roof to receive their leader. Three separate gatherings were organized alone in the tiny Shujabad town for the CM, he maintained.

He said the nomination of PML-Q city president Mian Faisel Mukhtar for the CDG’s top slot had been rebuffed by a number of ruling coalition leaders belonging to Multan, including MNA Asad Murtaza Gilani of PPP-Patriot and PML-Q ticket holder for a National Assembly seat Tanveerul Hasan Gilani while others were openly criticizing the nomination of Rana Sohail for the Shujabad town committee’s top slot.

The PPP stalwart said that the CM visited Multan to give a lease of life to the old feudal mindset of always sticking to power on the cost of ideology, commitment and loyalty to the party. “Personal gain is the name of the game for those who have defected their party for petty power politics,” he commented.

He said the people of Multan would reject the nominees of the Chaudhris on the election day. He said two years ago when he resigned from the office of district nazim after having developed serious differences with the government, the then provincial chief secretary played a significant role in installing a man of his choice for the vacant office.