The so-called Sugar Capital of Sindh remains PPP’s one of the most effortless contests. Will anyone be able to give PPP a tough time here?
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those reports were published in Herald’s July 2018 issue while the rest of it — approximately 5000 words — remained unpublished.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.
Second in this series of eight posts is the electoral profile of Sindh’s district Tando Muhammad Khan, 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 Muhammad Khan
Tando Muhammad Khan is a major producer of sugarcane, and has several sugar mills. Recently, there has been a frustration among the sugarcane growers because they have not been getting a fair price from the sugar mills.
The crushing season runs from mid-October to mid-March, but this started late this time (2018) — in January — incurring losses to the growers because delay in sugarcane crushing reduces its weight (loss to the farmer) but increases its sugar content (gain for the sugar mills).
Social activists say that for a district whose approximately 50% voters are dependent upon agriculture — mainly sugarcane — can create difficulties for the winners of past elections if not send them packing altogether.
The district has one national seat NA-228 (previously NA-222), and two provincial seats PS-68 (previously PS-53) and PS-69 (previously PS-54).
Syed Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPPP) has won in this constituency no less than six times since his first stint as an MNA in 1990.
Qamar, who has previously served as Federal Minister for Petroleum, Defense, Privatization, Ports and Shipping, and Finance, is a seasoned politician who secured 100,095 votes in the last elections, whereas his 20 opponents, including those from Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP), Sindh United Party (SUP) gathered a total of 46,675 votes.
This time, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has fielded Mir Ali Nawaz Khan Talpur against PPPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar once again.
In the 2013 elections, Mir Ali Nawaz Khan Talpur secured 76 votes from the National Peoples’ Party platform from the NA-222 (now NA-228). He had won the provincial constituency of PS-53 Tando Muhammad Khan (now PS-68) in 2002, when he was contesting from the platform of National Alliance.
Apart from this one defeat, the district has always been a PPPP stronghold. Naveed Qamar is also said to have a strong position because of the development works he has carried out in different areas, including the establishing of a Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Job Skills Training Centre, satellite center of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and provision of natural gas to different villages.
PPPP’s Syed Aijaz Hussain Shah Bukhari won the competition at PS-53 (now PS-68) in 2013 by securing 37,634 votes.
The runner-up was PML-F’s Mir Inayat Ali Talpur who got 25,661 votes. Rest of the votes, approximately 30,462, went to independent candidates, the Muttahida Qoumi Movement (MQM), Jamat-e-Islami (JI), PTI, National Peoples’ Party (NPP), and STPP.
It is believed that the division among anti-PPP candidates has helped the PPPP win, even though there’s a significant vote bank of PML-F in the constituency that comprises urban Tando Muhammad Khan and areas of Tando Ghulam Hyder.
This time, the seat is being contested by Bukhari again from the PPPP’s platform against Mir Sajjad Talpur of the GDA.
In the last elections, the PML-F candidate Mir Inayat Ali Khan Talpur secured 25,661 votes against Bukhari. Sajjad, his younger brother, is expected to give a tough competition to Bukhari because smaller factions have lent their support to the GDA, and for the fact that half of taluka (subdistrict or tehsil) Tando Ghulam Hyder has been added to the PS-68 under the new delimitations, and this area is said to have a big chunk of PML-F vote bank.
The PTI too has fielded a candidate Altaf Nizamani from the PS-68. Nizamani community has a significant vote bank here and it is yet to be seen if the PTI here does seat adjustment with the GDA or insists on contesting the elections separately.
At the PS-69, the major contenders are PTI’s Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah who competed at the old PS-54 in 2013 from the PML-F’s platform, in which he had got 3362 votes against 35,444 votes of the winning candidate Abdul Karim Soomro of the PPPP.
Shah has served as the Nazim of the taluka Bulrri Shah Karim of Tando Muhammad Khan, and also as chairman of the municipal committee of Tando Muhammad Khan.
Although Shah is said to have carried out development projects during his stint at Nazim, he still doesn’t enjoy the popular support that can translate into votes for him — evident from the votes that he secured last time.
His rival, Abdul Karim Soomro, on the other hand, has been an MPA on this seat since 2008, securing 26,082 votes and 35,444 votes in 2013. This shows his historically strong position in the constituency which will be hard to break for the PTI candidate keeping in view his past electoral progress.
Accurate calls: NA-228, PS-68, PS-69
Inaccurate calls: Nil.
