PPP Leadership Vs Mirzas of Badin

The top leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has given the ‘tough’ task to a number of the known political figures to inflict the defeat on Mirzas of Badin district much ahead of the general elections scheduled to be held in the mid of 2023.

According to the information collected from different credible sources including PPP leaders and those interested in the political affairs of Badin district, believe that the provincial seat of Tando Bago (PS 72) of Badin district is a matter of some great concern and matter of the ego for the top PPP leadership mainly not only to win this provincial seat but also to put an end to the “Mirza dynasty” in Badin district spanning over three decades.

To defeat Mirzas on this seat, the top PPP leadership has reportedly assigned the gigantic task to a number of main PPP leaders, the aspiring candidates and their aides to dilute and decrease the influence of Mirzas in this very important constituency of Badin district. The party sources informed this reporter that Asif Ali Zardari during his recent visit to neighboring district of Tando Allahyar district spent much of his time with PPP leaders from Badin district and thoroughly discussed with them about the political situation of the district and directed them to do the result-oriented fieldwork to knock down his rival, Dr Zulffkar Ali Mirza and family members during the next general elections.

Mr Zardari reportedly directed them to forget the past and think seriously about four future courses of action and made it clear to them that he wanted solid plans to achieve the desired positive political results in one of the most politically sensitive districts of the province much ahead of any poll process.

This seat has become a real headache for the PPP leadership much before the next general elections, as the PPP candidate Syed Ali Bux aka Pappu Shah was defeated by Barrister Hasnain Mirza, the elder son of Dr Mirzas , during last general elections with the margin of nearly five thousand votes on this very important provincial seat.

Syed Pappu Shah had to face humiliating defeat from Barrister Hasnani Mirza, mainly because he (Mr Shah) could not handle the electoral process properly due to’ unspecified reasons’ during the last five crucial days ahead of the polls after his reported meeting with some ‘ powerful people’. The ‘ strange silence’ by Mr Shah during the last crucial days had not only given much space to his rival candidate but also made it easy for Dr Fehmida Mirza to retain her NA seat for the record fifth consecutive time on the general seat as a female candidate. Mirzas got the great respite due to the ‘silence’ of Syed Pappu Shah and some serious mistakes made by the top party leaders at the time when Mrzas were losing three important seats of the district.

Dr Fehmida Mirza herself had lost to Haji Taj Mohammad Mallah on the provincial seat of Badin city with a very thin margin of votes. Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza was trounced by Mohammad Ismail Rahu with a huge margin of votes on PS 74 Shaheed Fazil Rahu while their younger son Hassam Mirza was defeated by Mir Ghulam Ali Khan Talpur on NA 229.with considerable margin. The political pundits believe that the PPP leadership with some ‘minor mistakes’ missed the great golden opportunity to politically get rid of Mirzas and hoped that they could do it with join efforts with ease. They pointed out towards some dents being created among the ranks files files of Mirzas as some of the main aides of Dr Zulfikar Ali Mirza have either left him or were ready to quit in near future by making certain commitments with PPP leadership.

Dr Fehmida Mirza , who had miserably failed to get the deceived lead from Badin and Shaheed Fazil Rahu talukas of her constituency (NA 230) against her rival candidate Haji Rasool Bux Chandio, was given the decisive lead from the voters of PS 72 and thus she had managed to retain her seat with a little margin. Thus the PPP leadership and its ‘ mentally disturbed’ candidate Syed Pappu Shah had greatly helped both the son and his mother retain their seats.

The top PPP leadership, which now wants to inflict a heavy defeat on Mirzas by bringing a ‘proper’ candidate though has not announced the name of final candidate much ahead of the next elections yet it has reportedly asked at least five political figures to win the sympathies of the voters as well as the support of the notables close to Mirzas and to change their loyalties.

Syed Ali Bux aka Pappu Shah, Haji Sain Bux Jamali, Mir Waqar Ahmed Talpur, Qabool Mohammad Khatian and Arbab Ameer Amanullah from Tharparkar are among those party leaders, who are aspiring to get the party ticket and to make wonders. And each claiming to have had the support of the considerable voters of different communities living in the constituency.

The two-times Sindh minister, Syed Pappu Shah, who has a long history of massive defeats in elections in this constituency against his rivals (with only one victory during the Muharraf f era against the comparatively ‘weak’ PPP candidate late Haji Karim Bhurgari) is reportedly sitting silent with the exception of a few public political appearances off and on these days.

But the people of the district , who have a close watch on the political landscape and the emerging scenario of this constituency as well as the political dynamics of Badin district believe that from among the party candidates, Mr Shah has still some chance to win this seat since he is an experienced stalwart and could do it if all other aspirants and notables help him rising above their personal interests for the sake of the party and the honour of the party leaders.

The same people with independent opinions totally rule out both Mr Jamali and Mr Khatian as the proper persons to face the ‘onslaught’ of Dr Zulfikar Ali Mirza and his team and term both of them too weak enough to win this seat for the party.

They believe that Mr Jamali, though has worked very hard for the past few years to strengthen the party, still stands with very little chances to get the party ticketMr Jamali is said to have been with high hopes and big ‘dreams’ to get a party ticket by sing both his ‘ strong contacts’ and his enough wealth . But according to the party sources and his critics he has to stay away from certain persons close to him with ‘questionable activities’ whom he has to control and bridle from creating problems for him n order to enable himself to have some chances to get into the race to get the ticket .

Thus Mr Qabool Mohammad Khatian has neither his personal vote-bank nor has support from any notables from this particular constituency. His own claims to have ‘ensured the just and judicious irrigation water distribution’ as a chairman of Area Water Board may not be put among the favourites. But Mr Khatian seems be relying on the support of Mir Ghulam Qadir Marri, the close aide of Asif Aki Zardari.

Mr Khatian is often seen hobnobbing with Mr Marri during the events in Badin and other districts.. Mr Khatian, who is also interested in contesting elections PS 71 Talhar, often claims to have close relations with Mr Zardari and others, who matter much in running the party affairs. Mr Khatian like Arbab Lutuf is also busy in meeting the close aides of Dr ZA Mirza and trying to convince them to join PPP to get more accolades from party leadership.

Arbab Lutufalla, the PPP MPA from Tharparkar and Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh for Sports , who is currently busy in organizing the public meetings and requesting the people having old family contacts with his family to join PPP also wants his younger brother Arbab Ameer Amanullah to get party ticket.

And the same people keeping watch on the political affairs of the district claim that those people who are joining PPP on the request of Arbab Lutuf could reverse their decision if they were approached properly by his political rivals from his own family like Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Arbab Anwar Jabbar.

The people believe that both rivals of Arbab Lutuf will try their best to ask these same people to either vote for Mirzas or to spoil their votes by casting in the favour of other candidates of their choice. . And in this situation again junior Arbab even if given the PPPe ticket could be an ‘easy’ target for Mirzas to retain this provincial seat. But the joint efforts of all PPP leaders and confidence of he people could help him turn the table of Mirzas provided he is tasked with such huge responsibility in Badin district.

The Talpurs of Badin district, who are also keeping their eyes on this seat too and want to bring Mir Waqaar Ahmed Talpur as the party candidate by using their immense influence and closeness with Ms Faryal Talpur and her spouse Mr Asif Ali Zardari but it would be hard for Mr Talpur to make inroads into the politics of Tando Bago after his current aloofness from the area for ‘unknown reasons’. Despite the fact some months back Mr Talpur was very active and was considered to be among few possible favourite candidates of the party for this ‘troubled’ constituency.
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The political pundits believe that Mr Waqar is an ‘honest and upright ‘ person but he may not be able to make the difference for the party until and unless Talpurs could create the conducive environment for him much ahead of the elections with their joint efforts.

The people interested in affairs of politics also believe that any move by PPP leadership to import a candidate from other district for the ‘double role’ to both contest elections and safeguard the business interests of Mr Zardari could also prove an exercise in futility and rather be the possible humiliation for the party and Asif Ali Zardari himself since Mirzas despite some dents within their ranks and files are still the hard nut to crack.

Syed Pappu Shah, therefore, again looks a suitable candidate among the available lot. The sources said that despite his previous humiliating defeat at the hands of Barrister Mirza he might get the ticket by seeking help from the strong ‘Syed lobby’ of Sindh.

But if Mirzas change their strategy and Dr ZA Mirza himself decides to contest the next elections from PS 72 and fields his son either in Talhar or in Badin, the situations will take a new and interesting turn along together. .

The people also believe that the PPP leadership has to take the wise, prudent and ‘bitter’ decisions if they really want to politically ‘banish’ Mirzas out of Badin district and they also think that the long ‘absence’ of the Federal Minister Dr Fehmida Mirza from her constituency could also create some troubles for Mirzas to convince voters this time again under the changed situations.