SHEIKHUPURA
Eighty candidates of general councillor and two of chairman have been elected unopposed in Sheikhupura, where more than 350 polling stations have been declared sensitive ahead of the second phase of the local bodies elections to be held on November 19.
The district consists of 99 union councils and 10 municipals committees. The political activities are in full swing in the entire district with corner meetings and rallies by the political parties.
As many as 429 candidates for chairman and vice chairmanship are contesting in 99 union councils of the district along with 1,592 general councillors for 594 seats. A total of 1,528 polling stations have been set up in the district - 583 for males, 579 for females and 366 combined for the 1,475,171 voters.
There are 50 wards in the jurisdiction of municipal committee Sheikhupura, 24 wards in Ferozewala, 16 wards in Safdarabad, 19 wards in Sharqpur, 50 wards in Municipal Committee Muridke, 15 wards in Farooqabad, 27 wards in Kot Abdul Maalik, 20 wards in Narang Mandi and 18 wards in Khanqah Dogn.
The local leaders of various political parties are making claims about their popularity in the district and hoped that their candidates would win the local bodies election.
Thirty candidates of councilor and 2 of chairman of the PML-N have been elected unopposed in Muridke, Ferozewaala, Narang and Sharqpur. Most of the polling stations lack electricity, furniture, drinkable water, boundary wall and other facilities.
A large number of political workers are annoyed at the attitude of the department. They said that the local Election Commission office employees did not work and cooperate with the public representatives regarding information.
Abdullah Bhatti, a resident of Kot Pindi Das, alleged that on the behest of PML-N elected representatives, the Factory area police registered a fake case against him for supporting an independent candidate against the ruling party candidate.
On the other hand the district administration has arranged fool proof security arrangement and Rangers have also been called to ensure security and maintain law and order on the polling day. When contacted, a local official of the Election Commission of Pakistan Arshad refused to provide information regarding the number of voters, polling stations and other related issues.