Karachi  - Sindh Assembly on Tuesday witnessed bashing of the Pakistan Muslim League Functional (PML-F) leadership and its lawmakers after one of former members of the provincial assembly, Jam Madad Ali, took oath of his seat after winning a by-election on a PPP ticket. 

The assembly’s session started more than one and half hour late from the scheduled time and except question and answer session, none of the item on the agenda of the private members day was taken up due to congratulatory messages from treasury benches for Jam Madad Ali. 

Jam Madad Ali took oath of his seat after winning elections from PS 81 Sanghar and was welcomed in the House by the PPP lawmakers and Sindh Assembly speaker. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Jam Madad Ali had resigned from his seat after joining PPP from PML-F and later won the elections from PS 81 and returned to the assembly. 

Speaking on the occasion, Jam thanked the PPP leadership for giving him the opportunity to serve the masses and said that he wasted his precious time in his past party. 

He demanded the authorities to investigate the killing of a PPP activist and compensation for those killed and injured during the by-election. 

He further demanded the authorities to shift inquiry of this case from Karachi to Sanghar so that the victims could easily approach the inquiry team and give their testimonies. 

Congratulating the MPA, Minister for Industries Manzoor Hussain Wasan said that Sanghar district had always been the stronghold of PPP, but the party’s mandate was stolen during a dictator’s rule. “This time the elections were held under the supervision of Rangers and the PPP has won the seat with a heavy margin,” he said, adding that PPP would win elections for other seats of Sanghar and Khairpur in the same way and would eliminate PML-F. He further taunted at the PML-F lawmaker Nusrat Sehar Bano and said that the PML-F would soon lose its reserve seats after losing its lawmakers one by one.  

Taimur Talpur said that after losing its leaders to PPP and losing political ground in the province, the PML-F should now rename itself as Non-Functional League.  

Fayyaz Butt said that earlier a perception had been created that Sanghar and Shikarpur were districts of PML-F, but the victory of PPP candidate in the area had once again proved that the PPP was the most popular party in the province. 

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza counseled the PPP lawmakers to exercise restraint in congratulating the newly elected member and refrain from criticising the leadership of any party. 

She further asked the secretary Sindh Assembly to expunge all such words. Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hassan also called for refraining from targeting any party’s leadership in the House. 

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, however, opposed it and said that there was no holy cow in the country and they would not spare anyone who would snatch mandate of the PPP.  

PPP Lawmaker Shahid Abdus Salam Thamim said that Nusrat Sehar Abbasi had tried to rig elections in Sanghar, but was thrown out from the polling booth by Rangers and party office-bearers. 

Further pointing towards Nusrat, the PPP lawmaker said that she would soon lose her reserve seat and therefore her anxiety level had increased.  

Khuhro said that the lawmakers had the right to speak on every issue in the assembly with freedom.  

“This is history as to how elections are won from this district and even the bullets were fired at Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in this district,” he said, adding that even a PPP activist was killed and several others were injured during this election in the district. 

He further said that some people had become frustrated after Sanghar elections.  

Minister for Works and Services Imdad Ahmed Pitafi said that the victory of Jam Madad Ali was a slap on the face of their opponents and now this should also be scrutinized as to why three reserved seats were being allotted to PML-F despite losing their MPAs.  

The deputy speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza did not allow the PML-F lawmakers to respond to criticism against their leadership and adjourned the session for Friday morning.