KARACHI: Around 60 candidates who will contest in general elections on National and Provincial Assembly seats in Sindh belong to the same few dozen families from different provincial districts.
General elections will be held on 61 National and 130 Provincial Assembly constituencies of the province on May 11. Majority of these families are participating in elections since the inception of the country.According to details gathered from lists of candidates provided by different political parties majority of these families hail from district Khairpur.
Those include former Sindh chief minister, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) President Syed Qaim Ali Shah, his daughter Nafeesa Shah and his nephew Syed Javed Ali Shah; Pir Pagaro Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi’s son, Muhammad Rashid Shah, brother, Pir Sadruddin Shah, and nephew, Pir Ismail Shah from Pakistan Muslim League-Functionl (PML-F); former Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan and his brother, Nawab Wasan, both PPP leaders; Syed Fazal Shah and his brother, Ahmed Raza Shah, and Sajid Banbhan and his brother, Zahid, also from PPP.
Similarly, in Nosheroferoz three candidates for National and Provincial assemblies belong to former caretaker prime minister, late Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi’s family, including his sons Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi and Arif Mustafa Jatoi, and nephew Ghulam Rasool alias Aqib Jatoi, who are contesting from National People’s Party (NPP).
In district Benazirabad, former Sindh United Party (SUP) leader and former Sindh assembly deputy speaker Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah’s brother, Syed Zainul Abdideen Shah is contesting for a provincial assembly seat, while Jalal Shah himself is a candidate from Kotri, district Jamshoro.It is worth mentioning that President Asif Ali Zardari’s sister, Azra Fazl Pechooho is contesting on a national assembly seat from Benazirabad, while his other sister, Faryal Talpur is a candidate from district Larkana.
Candidates belonging to two political families are running for elections in district Badin, Syed Ali Bux Shah alias Papu Shah and his wife, Bibi Yasmin Shah from Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), and former speaker NA Dr Fahmida Mirza and her son, Hasnain Mirza from PPP. Similarly, former Federal Minister, Sardar Ghous Bux Maher and his son, Shaheryar Maher will contest elections on PML-F tickets.
Members of the Maher family are contesting seats in Ghotki. Former Sindh CM Sardar Ali Muhammad Maher, his brother, Ali Goher Maher, and Raja Khan Maher, and his nephew, Sardar Muhammad Bux Maher are the ones contesting on different constituencies.In Sukkur, PPP leader, Syed Khurshed Shah and his nephew, Syed Owais Shah, and another PPP leader, Jam Saifullah Dharejo and his brother, Jam Ikram Dharejo are running for different seats. In district Qambar-Shahdadkot the PPP leader and former food minister Mir Nadir Magsi and his brother, Aamir Magsi are contesting on different seats.
The influential Shirazi family’s Syed Shafqat Shah, his son, Shah Hussain Shah, and nephew Ayaz Shah will contest on general seats in Thatta.In Larkana former bureaucrat Mahtab Akbar Rashdi and her son Rafey Akbar Rashdi contest from PML-F, as well as Sindh Assembly’s Speaker, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro and his daughter, Nida Khuhro.District Dadu will see former Sindh Chief Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, his son, Karim Dino Jatoi, and brother, Sadaqat Hussain Jatoi contest on different seats.
Meanwhile, in Matiari, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, his son Jamiluz Zaman, and brother, Makhdoom Rafiquz Zaman are PPP candidates.From Tharparkar, former Sindh CM Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, his son Arbab Zulfiqar, and nephew, Arbab Zakaullah are participating in the polls on different seats.Lastly, from District Umarkot, Nawab Yousuf Talpur and his son, Nawab Taimur Talpur are among those influential families who will contest in the forthcoming general elections on PPP tickets. – DailyTimes
