PPP to ‘keenly contest’ NA by-polls, LG elections in Karachi

The Pakistan Peoples Party has decided to keenly contest the upcoming by-polls in two National Assembly constituencies and the local government elections in Karachi slated for next month to emerge victorious.

This was decided at a meeting of the PPP Karachi Division held on Friday with Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani in the chair. Ghani is also the PPP Karachi Division’s president.

The participants of the meeting said the PPP’s Sindh government had been carrying out development in almost all parts of Karachi on a uniform basis without any discrimination and prejudice.

The meeting was informed that development projects would be initiated in the leftover areas of the city soon under the current financial year’s Annual Development Programme (ADP) of the Sindh government.

The meeting took into consideration the upcoming by-elections in two constituencies of Karachi -- NA-237 in District Malir and NA-239 in District Korangi -- on October 16 and local government elections in the city on October 23.

Ghani said that the ample time of one month was available to the PPP to conduct the election campaign for the two by-polls while even one more week was available for further preparations for the local government polls.

PPP Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi said that candidates belonging to the Peoples Party who had been contesting the local government elections in Karachi independently against the PPP ticket holders should be persuaded to withdraw from the electoral contest.

Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the policy of the PPP was very much clear about such cases, as candidates who belonged to the PPP but they were contesting the elections independently had to face stern disciplinary action. He said the development works would soon be initiated in the city to implement the schemes included in the ADP of the current fiscal year.

The labour minister was of the view that candidates of the PPP had been facing immense problems due to delays in the local government polls in the city. He said that it was high time the party intently launched the election campaign for the upcoming by-polls and local government elections in the city.

He expressed optimism that the people of Karachi would vote in favour of the PPP because of several development projects completed by the Sindh government in the city. He said that many more such development works would be completed as part of the ADP. He said that all the office-bearers and activists of the PPP had to stand united and work together after forgetting their mutual differences for victory in the upcoming polls.