Punjab should be divided in two provinces rather than just one. Bahawalpur should be considered as a separate province says PML-N. The Bahawalpur province will consist of the current administrative division that is considered Bahawalpur, while the current divisions of Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan will fall into the South Punjab province. This amendment bill was submitted in the National Assembly by MNA’s of PML-N. South Punjab has been a demand for past many years. Bahawalpur was a state itself and was under a rural of Nawab of Bahawalpur. The bill also calls for changes to Article 51, which will reciprocate in further changes in allocation of seats in the National Assembly, making way for representation of the two new provinces in parliament. According to the bill, once the amendment is done, Bahawalpur will have 15 general and three women’s seats, bringing the total count of seats to 18. The bill also calls for the allocation of 38 seats to the South Punjab province. After the amendment, the total number of seats on the NA would rise to 326, out of which 266 will be general seats while 60 will be women-specific seats. The amendment also calls for relevant changes to be made in Article 59 of the Constitution. The amendment also calls for 39 seats of the Punjab provincial assembly to be allocated for Bahawalpur, out of which 31 should be general and eight should be women-only. According to the bill, 80 seats should be allocated for the South Punjab province, out of which 64 should be general seats while 14 should be women-specific and two should be allocated for minorities. The bill also said that the people of these areas have been seeking the creation of these new provinces for a very long time and have been working towards this demand. This is an actual ultimatum for the government not to consider that PML-N is going to support South Punjab Province alone. Indeed, opposition is just polluting this very important issue with creating more divides and for their own political gains.
