NAWABSHAH: Former MNA and Grand Democratic Alliance’s candidate for NA-210 (Sanghar-II), Saira Bano, has expressed dismay at the Supreme Court’s decision to deprive Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of ‘bat’, the party’s election symbol, and said it is not a good omen as “it could happen to anyone anytime”.

The Pakistan Peoples Party could never win elections without rigging as it had deeply penetrated the government system down to the SHO level. It was high time people stood united with courage to get rid of the party, which had looted the province for the past 15 years, she said.

She was talking to journalists in Sanghar on Monday after meeting Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s candidate for NA-210 Shoaib Abbasi, who announced his support for Ms Bano.

She said in answer to a question that GDA had never been able to obtain the required number of candidates for forming its own government, hence it would form a coalition government. She had taken the field to spread awareness among masses about the election but she could see that public was sleeping, she said.

About her position on GDA’s election alliance with PML-N, she said that she stuck to her opinion about the PML-N as it was not for her to convince people to look for moon and stars on the sky while it was raining.

She said the decision on the alliance with PML-N was taken by Pir Sahab Pagara and they were only implementing it.

Earlier, she said at a party convention at Wassan House in Shahdadpur on Sunday night that PPP had now reduced to a party of father, son and aunt. After having destroyed Sindh completely, they were now trying to sell a new card of 300 free electricity units for everyone and building houses in the Punjab, she said.

She said that she had never inaugurated any scheme nor affixed on it any plaque with her name as all the works were carried out through public money.

“If we had been in power for such a long time, we would not have had any need at all for electioneering as the scale of our development works would have guaranteed our victory,” she said.

People were being made beggars through Benazir Income Support Program, she said and asked people to know their rights.

She said that people were still under water from 2022 flooding and were forced to sell their children to feed the remaining family members. There were oil and gas fields in Shahdadpur still people were facing gas loadshedding, she lamented.

Ms Bano also met with JUI-F candidate for PS-44 Shaista Abbasi. However, Ms Abbasi refused to support GDA’s provincial candidate Mohammad Bux Khaskheli.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024