Daily Times

Politicking in the country is at its peak as March 3 Senate elections are drawing closer, with each political party doing its best to gain maximum seats in the Upper House.

Amid a series of political events on Saturday, Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal met with the PTI Parliamentary Leader in Balochistan Assembly and other allies of the provincial government. Mengal met with PTI Parliamentary Leader Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind and the two discussed cooperation in the Senate elections in the province.

Other than this, the BNP-Mengal chief also met with BNP-Awami head Mir Israrullah Zehri and discussed the upcoming polls. Zehri later said that the BNP-Mengal has offered their two votes to him during the Senate elections. He thanked Akhtar Mengal for the offer and said that he does not want to waste these votes and would take a decision in this regard after consultation with the party.

Moreover, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leadership also met with the PTI Parliamentary Leader Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind. The BAP was represented by Saeed Hashmi and Jan Muhammad Jamali in the meeting, which mulled over Senate elections strategy and other political developments.

It is pertinent to mention here that a total of 41 candidates filed their nomination papers to the election commission for 12 Senate seats from Balochistan.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is eyeing to grab five Senate seats from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province after Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Saturday pledged its support for the opposition candidates. The JI will contest on a seat reserved for women while the PPP would vie for a technocrat seat after both parties reached an understanding, reports said.

“The meeting to finalize the matters held at the residence of Humayun Khan, where it was decided that PML-N, JUI-F and ANP will contest on general seats,” sources said, adding that the PDM will seek to win five seats from KP province in the Senate elections. Those who attended the meeting included Abbas Afridi and Mian Alamgir Shah from PML-N, Farhatullah Babar, Muhammad Ali Shah and Ahmed Karim Kundi from the PPP, Maulana Lutfur Rehman and Mahmood Ahmed from JUI-F. The ANP was represented in meeting by Haji Hidayatullah Khan and Sardar Hussian while Inayat Ullah Khan represented the JI.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Friday it has emerged that the ruling PTI and opposition parties held talks for holding ‘unopposed’ Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) just like in Punjab. The provincial ministers of the ruling PTI in KP have contacted parliamentary leaders of the opposition parties including Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

Shaukat Yousafzai confirmed that the opposition leaders have been contacted to hold unopposed Senate polls. He said that Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are creating hurdles to hold unopposed Upper House polls.

Meanwhile, PPP on Saturday reached out to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for support in Senate elections. According to details, a PPP delegation comprising of Nasir Hussain Shah, Murtaza Wahab, Sharjeel Memon and Waqar Mehdi visited MQM-P headquarters in Bahadurabad, where they were welcomed by the party’s senior deputy convener Amir Khan. During the meeting, both sides discussed the upcoming Senate elections as the PPP leaders sought MQM-P support for their candidates.

Sources privy to the details of the meeting said Nasir Hussain Shah congratulated Faisal Subzwari over possibilities of him becoming a Senator in the upcoming polls from the province. The two sides, according to sources, also discussed matters pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination and other virus-related measures besides mainly focusing on the elections of the upper house of the Parliament. The MQM-P and PPP also shared concerns over the census process in the province with each other.

It is pertinent to mention here that MQM-P is a coalition partner in the federal government with the PTI and both parties had already announced to support each other’s candidates.