SIALKOT

The Sialkot and Narowal district administrations have declared 125 polling stations as most sensitive and 450 others sensitive out of total 2,256 stations to be established for the local bodies elections on December 5.
The district administrations have called Rangers and Pak Army troops to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling. According to ECP officials, the polls would be held in 246 union councils, 131 wards of six municipal committees and in a municipal corporation of Sialkot and Narowal.
As many as 2,011,912 voters including 1,165,351 male and 846,561 female voters will cast their votes in 124 rural union councils of Zila Council Sialkot, 24 urban union councils of Municipal Corporation Sialkot, 30 urban wards of Municipal Committee Daska, 20 urban wards of Municipal Committee Sambrial and 26 urban wards of Municipal Committee Pasrur.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has planned 1,544 polling stations including 331 for male voters, 331 for female voters and 882 combined polling stations in Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur tehsils.
As many as 1,544 presiding officers (POs), 8,310 assistant presiding officers, 4,333 polling officers and 331 Naib Qasids will discharge their duties.
In Sialkot city, 77 candidates are in the race for the slots of chairmanship and vice chairman in all 24 urban union councils of Municipal Corporation as 471 candidates are contesting for the 144 seats of general councillors including two female candidates and two minorities’ candidates.
In Zila Council Sialkot, 575 candidates are in the race for the slots of chairman and vice chairman in all the 124 rural union councils while 2,868 candidates including four females and four from minorities for the seats of general councillors.
Sialkot police said that 5,000 police personnel, 30 DSPs and 20 SPs would protect the people in and around the polling stations in Sialkot district. It said that implementation of foolproof security plan has been started in Sialkot.
In Narowal Zila Council, the total registered voters are 773,078 in 98 rural union councils for which the ECP has planned 597 polling stations and 1,999 polling booths.
There are total 55 urban wards in all the three municipal committees. In Narowal city, 49,939 voters will cast their votes in 25 urban wards. In Shakargarh city, total registered voters are 39,218 in 19 wards. In Zafarwal city, the number of total registered voters is 14,802 for 11 wards.
Meanwhile, the local district administrations of Sialkot and Narowal have called the Punjab Rangers and Pak Army troops to ensure law and order and peaceful during polls.
BLEAK PPP FUTURE: The PPP seems nowhere in the political scenario of Sialkot district as the party has field not a single candidate amid the electioneering for the third phase of local bodies elections.
According to local independent political observers, the PPP’s political role is equal to nothing in Sialkot LB polls politics. The PPP has left the political field open for the other main political parties including PML-N and PTI.
Various jiayalas are of the view that the PPP is also keeping “political silence” ahead of the LB polls in the district due to the alleged lack of party leadership.
On the other hand, PPP stalwart and former federal information minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has fielded her own candidates and fully backing up them under the name of “Awami Khidmat Group.” She is running election campaign in almost all the rural union councils, falling in her electoral constituency (NA-111, Bajwat-Sialkot) here.
While addressing several election corner meetings in favour of her candidates, Firdous Ashiq Awan vowed to continue her political tradition of serving the local people without any political indiscrimination, saying that though the PPP has not fielded its own candidates in Sialkot for LB polls, she has fielded candidates in rural union councils of her electoral constituency.
Talking to newsmen here, the former federal minister said that people have become matured politically and could not be deceived again by the tall claims and lame excuses.
She said that the LB polls would also help to end the crisis of leadership in Sialkot. She urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take serious notice of the violation of election code of conduct by the PML-N candidates, alleging that the entire government machinery has been running the campaign of PML-N candidates ahead of LB polls in the district.