WHOEVER gets elected from rural Lahore’s largest constituency, NA-130, will be faced with an uphill task of securing funds for education, health, power, and other basic amenities for his or her voters, who remain deprived of modern facilities despite being part of the Punjab capital.

The constituency, three-fourth of which comprises rural areas, is plagued with civic problems like dilapidated roads and streets, lack of sewerage, gas, power and potable water supply and proper health cover.

The area, mostly inhabited by poorer segments of society, has a very high rate of illiteracy and unemployment as compared to other NA constituencies of the provincial metropolis.

There are only a couple of colleges and high schools in the area.

Surprisingly, Union Council-31, an urban area, is still without electricity. Some 100 to 150 families residing here are aggressively demanding the facility.

As a tough contest is on the cards between the government-backed PML-QA’s Ejaz Ahmad Dyal and PPP’s Samina Khalid Ghurki — who is the wife of former MNA Khalid Ghurki, the residents are demanding that their civic problems should be addressed.

Mr Ghurki is not in the run this time because of the graduation condition. Her wife is the only female contender for a National Assembly seat from Lahore. Due to unavailability of a suitable local candidate, the PPP fielded Mr Ghurki’s wife against Mr Dyal.

Waqar Nadeem Warraich of the MMA and Advocate Khadim Husain Bhatti of the PTI are also in the run from this constituency.

The constituency includes rural areas like Lakhoder, Bhaseen, Manawaan, Minhala, Burki, Hadiara, Jallo and urban localities like Al-Faisal Town, Tajpura, Batapur, Jorey Pul, Tera and Muslimabad. As many as 232,372 registered voters here include 106,392 women.

A PML-QA activist says that Mr Dyal has a big edge over his rival, Samina Ghurki, as almost 75 per cent of the newly delimited constituency is a stronghold of Dyals. In the 1997 elections, Mr Ejaz’s brother, Ashiq Dyal, was elected as an independent candidate from the constituency. The remaining 25 per cent of the area used to be part of the constituency from where PML-N’s Mian Abdul Waheed was returned to the assembly. This time, the PML-N has not fielded any candidate here and is said to be supporting the PPP candidate. However, it has fielded Rana Mohammad Tajamal Husain at PP-157 and Talib Husain Chaudhry at PP-158.

PPP activists say their party enjoys widespread support of voters in the area besides the support of the locally influential Ghurkis. It may however be mentioned that most of the area under Ghurkis’ influence has been included in NA-129, which may prove to be a setback for Ms Samina.

As is the case in several other constituencies, residents here are also demanding that the candidates should help them get jobs.

Still, the personal influence of the contestants and the biradari factor are expected to influence the results of the elections here. In addition, 6,000 to 8,000 Christians living in different parts of the constituency may also tilt the balance in favour of one candidate or the other should they decide to vote en block.

Mr Dyal is supported by his party’s candidates for PP-157 and 158, Rana Shaukat Mahmood — a former PPP leader who was elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1988 and acted as the leader of opposition against the Nawaz government — and Malik Qadeer Husain Awan.

On the other hand, Ms Ghurki has a weak supporter in the person of Malik Javaid Awan in PP-157.