LARKANA: The door-to-door election campaigns for the upcoming general polls have intensified by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidates and their political rivals in Larkana. Reportedly, the election drives led by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Faryal Talpur and Nida Khuhro, who seek to garner the general public’s support, have rolled out to NA-200, PS-10 and PS-11, respectively. Furthermore, the candidates advocated ‘fresh’ commitments of reforms and welfare to win voters’ hearts. Meanwhile, Talpur visited many union councils of the provincial assembly seat PS-10 for the first time and begged for votes. Later, she addressed corner meetings during her visit to villages in the adjoining region of Naundero including Bhoonbhatpur, Rahuja and Alhando Jeho, and urged the villagers to cast votes in favour of Bilawal. “PPP’s opponents would try their best to deceive you, but you need ‘to start a new history’ by voting for Bilawal,” she said while being accompanied by Parveen Qaimkhani, Azhar Kamario, PPP’s candidate for NA-199 Zulfiqar Kamario and Aijaz Laghari. Meanwhile, their contesting rivals including Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) candidate Rashid Mahmood Soomro, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ameer Bakhsh Bhutto and Larkana Awami Ittehad (LAI) candidate Moazim Ali Abbasi backed by Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) also kicked off election drives with full momentum. While addressing a moot entitled ‘Role of Youths in Election 2018’ in Naundero, Soomro emphasised the role of younger generation during historical revolutions those led to change and innovation in societies. “Sindh is enriched with sufficient natural resources, however those resources have been under ‘occupation’ by corrupt rulers,” he said adding that sand, coal and chromites stone produced in Thar are precious. “If Thar coal produces electricity, the cost of electricity production would not exceed Rs 1 per unit,” he added while claiming that the coal reserves can be used to produce electricity for the next hundred years. He further criticised PPP’s tenure of ten years that led to poverty and massive corruption in the entire region. Soomro urged youths to enhance their intellectual capabilities and strive for acquiring seats in national and provincial assemblies and resolve core public issues. “NA-200 is the most important constituency of the country, and I plead with the Election Commission of Pakistan to install CCTV cameras and deploy army instead of police officers for monitoring the constituency to prevent rigging,” he said. Meanwhile, the LAI candidate Abbasi asserted that fundamental rights of the general public were violated including provision of quality education and healthcare units, construction of roads, efficient drainage and sewerage system etc. “Peasants of Bhutto Estate were being threatened that they would be deprived of their lands if they cast votes to PPP’s opponents,” he alleged. Published in Daily Times, July 9th 2018.