MULTAN, Feb 24: The magic of local councils’ funds failed to charm the voters in the 2008 elections as all relatives of district and tehsil nazims in south Punjab, except Khanewal and Muzaffargarh district nazims, faced defeat except district nazim Khanewal.

Those who fielded their near and dear ones are: Layyah, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Vehari, Lodhran, Pakpattan, Multan and Bahawalpur.

Pakistan Muslim League-Q’s (PML-Q) Razia Haidar, daughter of Layyah District Nazim Malik Ghulam Haidar Thind, was defeated by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate for PP-266 Iftikhar Babar Khitran.

The father and a brother of Rajanpur District Nazim Ali Raza Dreeshak faced a string of defeat. His father Nasrullah Khan Dreeshak (independent) lost NA-174 to PML-Q’s Jaffar Leghari, NA-175 to PPP’s Dost Muhammad Mazari, and PP-249 to PPP’s Amanullah Dreeshak. While district nazim’s brother, Hasnain Bahadur Dreeshak, lost PP-248 to independent candidate Athar Hassan Gurchani.

Muhammad Khan Leghari, the son of Dera Ghazi Khan District Nazim Maqsood Leghari, has lost PP-245 to PML-Q’s Mohsin Leghari.

Rai Azizullah, independent candidate for NA-162 and cousin of Sahiwal District Nazim Rai Hasan Nawaz, lost NA-162 to Chaudhry Zaffar Iqbal of the PPP. The district nazim’s nephew, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, was punished by voters in PP-225 where he lost the polls to PML-Q’s Chaudhry Muhammad Arshad.

Sajid Mehdi Saleem Shah, the brother of Vehari District Nazim Syed Shahid Mehdi Naseem, lost their traditional stronghold NA-167 to Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Jatt of the PML-Q. Zia Ahmed Matiana, the brother of Bahawalnagar District Nazim Mumtaz Ahmed Mutiana, lost PP-280 as PML-Q candidate to PML-N’s Asif Manzoor.

PPP’s Hayatullah Tareen defeated two uncles of Lodhran District Nazim Abdul Rehman Kanju – PML-N’s Akhtar Khan Kanju and PML-Q’s Ajmal Khan Kanju. His brother Amin Khan Kanju was defeated by PPP’s Muhammad Akram Kanju in PP-208.

Two brothers of Pakpattan District Nazim Rao Naseem Hashim Khan were defeated in NA-164 and PP-227. Rao Jamil Hashim lost his seat as PPP candidate to Sardar Mansab Ali Dogar of the PML-N and Justice (retd) Rao Naeem Hashim Khan as independent candidate for PP-228 to Mian Atta Muhammad Khan Maneka of the PML-Q. Multan City District Nazim Mian Faisal Mukhtar could not manage the victory of his brother, Mian Fazal Mukhtar, PML-Q candidate for NA-150, to PML-N’s Rana Mehmoodul Hasan.

Tahir Bashir Cheema, brother of Bahawalpur District Nazim Tariq Bashir Cheema, lost NA-193 as PML-Q candidate to Mian Abdul Sattar of the PPP while Irslan Leghari, the son of Rahim Yar Khan District Nazim Rafiq Leghari, lost PP-297 as MPL-Q candidate to PPP’s Raees Ibrahim.

Mian Imtiaz Ahmed, the brother of Rahim Yar Khan Tehsil Nazim Mian Ejaz Amir, lost NA-196 as independent candidate to PPP’s Javed Iqbal Warraich. Makhdoom Ahmed Alam Anwar, the father of the Liaquatpur tehsil nazim, could not save his stronghold NA-192 as PML-Q candidate against PPP’s Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi.

Two brothers and three cousins of Khanewal District Nazim Hamid Yar Hiraj, have however, braved all odds and won their seats. His brothers, Hamid Yar Hiraj and Muhammad Yar Hiraj, both PML-Q candidates, defeated Faisal Imam and Hasnain Shah, both PPP candidates, from NA-157 and PP-215. Their cousin Raza Hayyat Hiraj defeated PPP’s candidate Syed Fakhr Imam for NA-156.