MUZAFFARGARH: Interviews of some of the stakeholders in the Oct 10 elections here are as under:

Hina Rabbani Khar: A ticket-holder of the PML-QA for NA-177, she is the daughter of former MNA and provincial minister Malik Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and niece of former federal minister Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar. In an interview with The News she said she had joined politics to protect the women rights as well as doing social welfare works in her area. She said her family had always considered politics as a sacred mission. She said the Musharraf government had assured the PML-QA candidates that the government would never allow Sharif family to return to the country. She, however, admitted that Shahbaz Sharif was a good administrator and she had respect for him. When asked about her father's leaving of the PML-N and joining the PML-QA, she said "no comments".

Muhammad Jameel Bukhari: A PML-N candidate from NA-179, he said he would prefer dying to becoming a Lota (turncoat) and would not leave the PML-N at any cost. He said he was contesting against conscience-less people. With the return of Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif, he said, all the PML-QA 'Lotas' would immediately rejoin him. Talking about Musharraf, he said his political moves suggested he was not going to quit power in his life. He said the PML-N had entered into alliance with Qayyum Jatoi group and by the grace of God he would definitely win. He said the PML-QA candidates were using government machinery for running their election campaigns. He said he also wrote letters to the Chief Election Commissioner in this regard, but in vain.

Muhammad Ashiq Gobang: A PML-QA candidate from NA-180 said his family had been active in politics for the last 50 years and they had won every election from their area, reflecting the trust of people in his family. Answering allegations of the government support to the PML-QA candidates, he said the government was not backing them and the election would be held in a transparent and clean manner.

Mian Atta Muhammad Qureshi: PML-QA President Muzaffargarh, who is supporting candidates of PPP for the coming election, said he spared no sacrifice for his party, but the party leadership had denied him and his relatives party tickets. He said he made his son-in-law Gul Zaman withdraw his candidature in favor of the PML-QA candidate from NA-178. He said that after Nawaz Sharif fled from the country, the changes in party were inevitable and his joining of the PML-QA was a part of those changes.

Sunnia Mansoor Khan: Granddaughter of ARD chairman Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan is contesting elections from PP-256. She said it was for the first time in her family that any female candidate was contesting election. She said Muzaffargarh is an underdeveloped district because no previous government paid attention towards its development. She said she would set up a vocational college for women, a maternity home and a women university in the district. To a question about the fake degree certificate of her father, she said the matter was in court and she could not comment on it.