GDA, PTI to field joint candidate in NA-213 by-poll

karachi: The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Save the Indus River Movement and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have announced that they will field a joint candidate to contest the upcoming by-election in the NA-213 Umerkot constituency that fell vacant after the death of senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur last month.

The announcement to this effect was made by the chief coordinator of the GDA, Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashdi, as he spoke to media persons on Sunday after chairing a political meeting that was attended by leaders of the GDA and its allies.

Rashdi announced that Lal Malhi would be the joint candidate of the opposition parties in the by-election.

He also invited the chairman of the PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, to join the ongoing opposition-led protest drive in Sindh against the proposed construction of six new canals on the Indus River. He opined that Bilawal choosing to be on the side of the opposition's ongoing protest campaign would prove his sincerity to the cause of opposing the construction of new canals. Bilawal choosing to remain on the side of his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, would be meaningless, the GDA leader said as he alleged that President Zardari was involved in allowing the canals project.