In 2018, the Herald magazine assigned me the responsibility to report on electoral contests in eight districts of Sindh, namely Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari, Dadu, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, and Sanghar.
Because the magazine had space constraints, only the excerpts from those reports were published in Herald’s July 2018 issue while the rest of it — approximately 5000 words — remained unpublished.
I have finally decided, in 2025, to put them all online in their original form because firstly, I worked hard for them and traveled far and wide in the intense June heat of Sindh so I think they should not remain unused; and secondly, I hope, someone some day may find them usable for some project that they might be doing. If that holds true even for one person, then I think the reports will have achieved their purpose.
Fourth in this series of eight posts is the electoral profile of Sindh’s district Tando Allahyar, as written in the summer of 2018. The constituencies may have changed over the years and may not necessarily match with the current numbering.
By: Bilal Karim Mughal in Tando Allahyar
Tando Allahyar is situated midway on the road from Hyderabad to Mirpurkhas. A fairly small district, it has one national seat, NA-224 (previously NA-223) and two provincial seats, PS-60 taluka (subdistrict or tehsil) Jhando Mari (previously PS-51) and PS-61 taluka Chambar (previously PS-52).
Here, Zulfikar Sattar Bachani of the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) is competing against Mohsin Abbasi of GDA. Both the candidates have strong family backgrounds, with Bachani’s father Abdul Sattar Bachani defeating Abbasi’s mother Dr Rahila Gul Magsi in 2013 elections by 23,838 votes.
Bachani is seen as a strong candidate here because of his family stature, and with Dr Magsi allegedly not catering to the district’s public after becoming a senator and her brother Irfan Gul Magsi joining the PPPP in 2015.
At PS-60, PPPP’s Zia Abbas Shah Rizvi is contesting against Mohsin Abbasi of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Ali Ahmed Palh of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
Rizvi had won the constituency (PS-51) in 2013, defeating Dr Irfan Gul Magsi by 19,226 votes. The biggest chunk of the rest of the divided vote — 10,285 votes — was taken up by Muttahida Qoumi Movement (MQM) with no other party crossing the 5000-vote barrier.
Palh is contesting elections for the first time, that too on a PTI ticket, whose other candidate Shamim Ahmed Khan had polled only 1194 votes in 2013 elections from the same constituency. Rizvi, therefore, seems to be in a strong position.
There is, however, going to be an interesting competition at PS-61 where disgruntled PPPP leader Haji Khair Mohammad Khokhar is competing as an independent candidate against Imdad Pitafi of the PPPP, who has been the former Sindh Minister of Works and Services in the outgoing (2013-2018) assembly.
Pitafi had defeated his primary rival Dr Rahila Gul Magsi of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in 2013 by 17,591 votes and Dr Irfan Gul Magsi in 2008 by 23,811 votes.
The seat was seen as a stronghold for Pitafi until Khokhar, himself a seasoned politician, a huge landlord, ‘Chief Sardaar’ of Khokhar community, and former Taluka Nazim, stepped in the competition.
It is believed that the local PPPP stalwarts are at odds with Imdad Pitafi, and the voters of Magsi community will support Khokhar against Pitafi.
Also, GDA is not fielding any candidate in the constituency due to which the GDA vote might also go in favor of Khokhar. Also, Khokhar is said to have strong rapport with the public in his constituency.
Accurate calls: NA-224, PS-60, PS-61
Inaccurate calls: Nil
