Polling for 124 UCs in Sialkot today From Our Correspondent SIALKOT Like many other districts of the Punjab province, the polling would be held in Sialkot district regarding the third phase of the ongoing local government (LG) elections today (Saturday) amid tight security. The Sialkot district comprises 124 union councils (UCs), out of which 44 fall in tehsil Sialkot, whereas 31, 34 and 15 fall in tehsil Daska, tehsil Pasroor and tehsil Sambrial, respectively. On the other hand, the Municipal Corporation Sialkot contains 24 UCs, while three Municipal Committees of tehsil Daska, Pasroor and Sambrial have 30, 26 and 20 wards respectively. The polling will start at 7.30 am and would continue uninterrupted till 5.30 pm in the evening, during which total 2,011,915 voters, 1,165,351 male and 846,564 female, would cast their votes. The Sialkot district, including Sialkot city has been one of the most safest strongholds of the Pakistan Muslim League-N for more than last 30 years and during the last general elections of 2013, it had managed clean sweep and had secured all the five National Assembly and 11 Punjab Assembly seats from here. In the past, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had been the major rival party of the PML-N here, but after the general elections of 2013 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the major opponent. For the 24 UCs of Municipal Corporation Sialkot, both the PML-N and the PTI are leading parties who have filed 23 candidates each for the slots of chairman/vice-chairman, while other parties, including PPP and Jamaat-e-Islami have very few candidates. In UC Hamza Ghous, Imran Sharif of the PML-N will face Zafar Iqbal Cheema of PTI, in UC Pindi Araian, Meraj Deen of the PML-N would contest against Altaf Ahmed of PTI, in UC Talwara Mughlan, Shamsher Gul Khan of the PML-N will face Aftab Khan of PTI, in UC Kotli Behram, Muhammad Rafique Mughal of PML-N will face Nadeem Raza of PTI, in UC Pakka Garha, Mian Asif Javed of PML-N will face Mudassar Taheem of PTI, in UC Model Town, Mian Muhammad Jehangir of PML-N will face Samadullah Khan of PTI, in UC Mianapura, Zulfiqar Ahmed of PML-N will face Muhammad Shabbir of PTI, in UC Muzaffarpur, Muhammad Nawaz of PML-N will face Naveed Sultan of PTI, in UC Mubarakpura, Mian Ishfaq Ahmed of PML-N will face Suhail Mehmud Umer of PTI, in UC Shah Syedan, Suhail Ahmed Butt of PML-N will face Meher Muhammad Shakeel of PTI, in UC Shahabpura, Malik Sarfraz of PML-N will face Ch Waqar Mubarak of PTI, in UC Fatehgarh, Ch Bashir Ahmed of PML-N will face Khawaja Adnan of PTI, in UC Hajipura, Ch Muhammad Shakeel of PML-N will face Muhammad Rashid Ansari of PTI, in UC Hajipura Bund, Ghulam Meeran Cheema of PML-N will face Ansar Latif of PTI, in UC Imam Sahib, Mujahid Maqbool of PML-N will face Suhail Amin Mir of PTI, in UC Nekapura, Sh Muhammad Ashraf Haider of PML-N will face Muhammad Abdul Mateen of PTI, in UC Doburji Araian, Mian Shabbir Ahmed of PML-N will face Meher Ashiq Hussain of PTI and Mian Muhammad Azeem of Jamaat-e-Islami, in UC Islamabad, Muzaffar Islam Butt of PML-N will face Raheel Javed Butt of PTI and former Deputy Mayor Mirza Aurangzeb Shahji as independent, in UC Karimpura, Khurram Shahbaz Khan of PML-N would face Faheem Nawaz as independent candidate supported by PTI, in UC Pura Hairan, Imdad Ali of PML-N will face Mian Ahmed Hussain of PTI, in UC Rangpura, Sh Ikraam of PTI will face the independent candidate Anjum Raza Khan, as the PML-N candidate Malik Azmatullah was barred from contesting elections by the Election Commission because his vote was registered in mentioned UC, in UC Ahmedpura, Haji Abdul Qadeer Sheikh of PML-N will face Mehmud Chohan of PTI, in UC Muhammadpura, a relative of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and former Chairman Sialkot International Airport Ch Tauheed Akhter of PML-N will face Sheikh Qaiser of PTI and in UC Water Works, former Deputy Mayor Mehmudul Hasan Baber Khan of PML-N will face Ch Bashir Ahmed of PTI and Haji Imtiaz Tiger of PPP but the polling in this UC has been postponed due to sudden demise of the PML-N candidate for vice-chairman Ch Khalid Ali Advocate, the ex-President Sialkot District Bar, few days back. Keeping in mind the results of the past general and local government elections, it is quite likely that the PML-N would be able to secure big majority of the UCs of Sialkot Municipal Corporation; however, close contests could be observed in Imam Sahib, Karimpura, Islamabad, Shah Syedan, Doburji Araian, Nekapura, Hajipura Bund and Muhammadpura, where influential local leaders of PML-N are in the arena as independent candidates after having differences with the top local leadership and the alliance between PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami could pose a threat to PML-N.
