Election 2024: PPPP bigwigs’ families ‘preferred’ in awarding
KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) — which has been ruling Sindh for 15 consecutive years — has once again preferred the families of the party’s bigwigs in awarding tickets for the general elections slated to be held on February 8, Geo News reported.
In Sindh, the party “apparently ignored merit” in the distribution of tickets as surprisingly five siblings will be contesting the upcoming general elections on PPP’s tickets, according to a report. It further said that the party awarded tickets to members of influential families in the province.
The list of lucky ones who got the PPPP’s tickets for the national and provincial assembly seats reveals some interesting facts.
In Ghotki, PPPP’s Ali Gohar Khan Mahar will contest elections from NA-199 while his brother Ali Nawaz Mahar and cousin Muhammad Buksh were the party’s candidates for the seats of the provincial assembly.
PPPP heavyweight Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah won the party ticket for Sukkur’s NA-201 and his son Syed Farukh Ahmed Shah and son-in-law Awas Shah were awarded tickers for the Sindh Assembly.
The party fielded Shehryar Khan Mahar from NA-193 in Shikarpur, while his brother Arif Khan Mahar would be contesting for the PA seat.
In Qambar Shahdadkot district, most of the tickets were awarded to two families, Magsi and Chandio.
Similarly, former president Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto will be contesting from NA-207 (Nawabshah) and NA-196 (Larkana), respectively.
Zardari’s sisters Dr Azra Pechuho and Faryal Talpur will contest the upcoming elections for Sindh Assembly seats from Nawabshah and Larkana, respectively, with Tarlpur’s husband Mir Munawar Ali Talpur being the party’s candidate from Mirpurkhas’ NA-212.
From district Matiari, Makhdoom Jameel Uz Zaman is the party’s candidate for the National Assembly, where his son Mehboob Zaman and nephew Makhdoom Fakhar Zaman succeeded in securing party’s tickets for Sindh Assembly seats.
Former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah will contest the polls from Khairpur, whereas his daughter, Nafisa Shah, and Javed Ali Shah have managed to bag party tickets for the National Assembly seats.
PPPP’s Malik Asad Sikander and his son Malik Sikander will be the party’s candidates for national and provincial assembly seats from Jamshoro, respectively
From Umerkot, Nawab Yousuf Talpur will contest for the National Assembly seat, with his son Taimur Talpur securing the party’s ticket for the provincial assembly seat.
The distribution of the party in the said district also resulted in Syed Sardar Shah, his cousin Ameer Shah, contesting the polls for the provincial assembly seats on PPPP’s ticket, whereas Zia Abbas Shah — another relative of Sardar’s — is the party’s candidate from Tando Allahyar’s Sindh Assembly seat.
Distribution of party tickets in district Thatta also echoes the prevalence of dynastic politics as two brothers from the Sherazi family i.e., Ayaz Shah will contest the polls for NA, whereas his younger brothers Riaz Hussain Shah and Shah Hussain Shah will be the party’s candidates for provincial assembly seats.
Furthermore, two members of the Hindu community will also be contesting the polls on PPPP’s tickets with Dr Mahesh Malani and Ram Kishori Lal being fielded by the Bilawal Bhutto-led party from Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas on NA and Sindh Assembly seats, respectively.