MULTAN City News

Multan by-election
PML-N appears strong with fissures in PTI, PPP
From Nadeem Shah
MULTAN: The PP-196 by-election schedule has heated up politics in Multan following the wheeling and dealing among the three major stakeholders - PPP, PTI and PML-N.
Political analysts believe the by-poll is expected to seriously damage the PPP and the PTI, giving a safe passage to the PML-N, as two Makhdooms - Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Yousaf Raza Gilani - are making efforts to let the other down due to the ego factor, with their politics at stake in the provincial assembly constituency.
Qureshi, the PTI vice-chairman, was elected from NA-150, which covers PP-195 and PP-196, as he has been working on PPP’s wining horse Akhtar Hussain Bhutta with the objective of not only winning the by-election but also strengthening the future electoral politics in NA-150.
The Bhutta clan is considered very strong with 15,000 to 18,000 votes in five union councils. It is divided into three groups led by Akhtar Bhutta, Arshad Bhutta and Allah Ditta Sajid Bhutta; however, Akhtar Bhutta has been more influential then the rest. In the given scenario, the PPP may depend on the other two.
Gilani had obliged Akhtar Bhutta in a big way by awarding contracts under the PM development projects. It is important to note that the ventures worth billions of rupees had been completed during Gilani’s tenure in Multan.
The PPP sources confided to The News that the PPP had held a hectic meeting at Gillani House on Wednesday for which Akhtar Bhutta was especially invited to discuss his candidature for the by poll. But the sources disclosed that he refused contesting the election due to his ailment.
“The PPP is contesting the by-poll at any cost; however, I am not a candidate due to my illness. The alternative candidate would be finalised in the next couple of days,” Akhtar Bhutta told The News after a meeting with Gilani.
Talking to this scribe on the issue of allotment of the PTI ticket, Qureshi said, “No doubt Rana Abdul Jabbar has contributed a lot in the disqualification of PML-N ex-minister prison Abdul Waheed Arain and the party may consider him for the ticket.”
However, he did not mention that Jabbar is the final PTI candidate.
The PTI insiders say Qureshi has matured his talks with Akhtar Bhutta who is joining the party in the next couple of days. They say Akhtar Bhutta contested on the general elections from in PP-196 on the PPP ticket but allegedly ensured polling votes in favour Qureshi in NA-150.
The PTI has established a well-organised network and offices in NA-150, PP-195 and PP-196 and Qureshi is developing the area as his home constituency for his future electoral politics.
According to the party insiders, differences are surfacing within the PTI on the party ticket issue. If Qureshi prefers the PPP turncoat then cracks would appear in the PTI. On the other hand, Jabbar is expecting party ticket for two reasons. He was the runner up in the last general elections and secondly he had filed the disqualification petition against Waheed Arain.
Although, this seat has become vacant due to the disqualification of PML-N member, the party is in very comfortable position. Rana Mehmood-ul-Hassan - a former PML-N ticket holder in NA-150 - is making efforts to get his younger brother Rana Shahid-ul-Hassan as the party candidate from PP-196. The disqualified Minister’s brother is also an expected PML-N candidate.
The fourth strong candidate is Mirza Furqan Mughal of MQM, who was the MPA from the constituency on the PML-Q ticket in Musharraf era. “I am not in a position to explain the situation and the matter will be decided within few days,” Mughal said.
Both PP-195 and PP-196 falling under NA-150 cover majority of the city areas. Lat time round, Qureshi had grabbed NA-150 with 92,761 votes. The trend in the last three elections shows that the PML-N has won the seat twice, while the PML-Q was the winner in 2002. The details are given as under.

2013

A total of 175,778 voters were registered in PP-196, while 88,668 votes had been polled with 50.45 per cent turnout. Thirty-four candidates contested in the general elections. PML-N candidate Waheed Arian bagged 33,030 votes with PTI’s Jabbar receiving 28,826 and 10, 000 for Akhtar Bhutta of PPP.

2008

A total of 177,033 votes were registered while the turnout on the polling day was 32.44 per cent. Of the six candidates, Waheed Arain (PML-N) won the seat while securing 23,172 (40 per cent) votes. As far as others are concerned, Akhtar Bhutta of PPP received 23,101 votes and Mirza Furqan of PML-Q bagged 10,464 votes.
2002

There were 12 candidates for slot 127,530 registered voters and a turnout 28.82 per cent. Mirza Furqan of PML-Q won the contest with 12,555 votes followed by PML-N’s Mujahid Bhutta 12,264 votes, PPP’s Khurshid Ahmed securing 7, 216 votes and PTI’s Muhammad Asif bagging 350 votes.