DG Khan gets largest representation in council

LAHORE: Out of the 10 politicians included in the Executive Council on the creation of Southern Punjab province constituted by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Dera Ghazi Division got the largest representation with six members in the EC.

Interestingly, Sardar Mohsin Khan Leghari, one of the staunch advocates of Southern Punjab province and also the first legislator in the current term to submit resolution in support of it hasn’t been included in the Council.

The total number of members in the Council are 13, including 10 politicians. They included seven sitting MPAs, one former MPA Ali Raza Dareshak and two former MNAs, including Tahir Bashir Cheema and Meena Ehsan Leghari. Ali Raza Dareshak, whose brother Hasnain Bahadur is also the provincial minister, has been included as an agriculturist in the EC for Southern Punjab whereas three retired bureaucrats, including Anwar A Khan, Javed Iqbal Awan and Athar Hussain Khan are also the part of the EC.

Out of the three divisions of Southern Punjab, including Multan, Bahawalpur and DG Khan, only one has been picked from Multan Division. MPA Syed Ali Abbas Shah, who has been elected from District Lodhran hails from Multan Division and is part of the Southern Punjab EC.

Three members, including Tahir Bashir Cheema, Punjab Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry and MPA Gazain Abbasi have been picked from Bahawalpur Division but they belong to the same district (Bahawalpur) which means two other districts Bahawalnagar and Rahimyar Khan of the same division have been completely ignored.

From the Dera Ghazi Khan Division, which comprises of districts like DG Khan, Layyah, Rajapnur and Muzaffargarh, six political figures have been included in the EC.

The members include MPA Sardar Shahab-ud-Din Khan Seehar (Layyah), MPA Sardar Javaid Akhter Lund (DG Khan), Nawabzada Mansoor Khan (Muzaffargarh), Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, Dr Meena Ehsan Leghari and Ali Raza Dareshak, both former MNA and MPA respectively have been included from the district of Rajanpur.

This is noteworthy that most of the politicians who have been included in the committee have mostly kept mum on the PA floor in past tenures regarding the creation of Southern Punjab province.

On the other hand, Sardar Mohsin Khan Leghari, one of the most vocal politicians in support of Southern Punjab province and who also submitted the first ever resolution of the ongoing PA tenure, hasn’t found place in the EC. Mohsin is currently serving as the irrigation minister and one minister in form of Samiullah Chaudhry has also been part of the EC.

The Executive Council for the creation of Southern Punjab province was constituted by CM Sardar Usman Buzdar and is a part of the PTI government’s 100 days plan. The Council, whose office will be set up at the CM office and will identify all possible issues pertaining to the creation of Southern Punjab province and engage all relevant departments to provide assistance where required.

As per its Terms of Reference (ToR), it will also engage all relevant stakeholders to muster their support for the task and develop consensus required for the creation of Southern Punjab province besides coordinating all matters with federal committee.