KARACHI: Former Sindh governor and chief minister and a political heavyweight of Sindh’s politics Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto passed away in Karachi on Sunday. He was 88 years old. Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, had served as 8th Governor and later the 13th Chief Minister of Sindh.
He was the first cousin of the founder of Pakistan People’s Party and former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and uncle of late Benazir Bhutto, two-time former prime minister of Pakistan. His funeral prayers will be held on Monday (today) and will be laid to rest at a graveyard in his native village Mirpur Bhutto in Larkana district, according to the family sources.
Mumtaz Ali Bhutto born in Larkana in year 1933, became a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly on March 05, 1965. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) announced founding of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1967, he was one of the founding member of the party and a close aide of ZAB.
He was elected a member of the National Assembly in 1970 general election defeating a political heavyweight Qazi Fazlullah. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto was named Governor of Sindh on 24 December 1971, while made Sindh’s Chief Minister in May 1972.
He was also the Federal Minister for Railways Communications and Shipping Corporation. After differences with the PPP, he became the first convener of the Sindhi Baloch Pushtoon Front (SBPF) in 1985. Late he formed his own party, the Sindh National Front. He was elected to a seat in the provincial assembly from Larkana in October 1993 general election.
Sardar Mumtaz Bhutto was the caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh in 1996. In 2011, Mumtaz Bhutto merged his party with the Nawaz League. After differences with Nawaz Sharif, he left the Nawaz League in 2016. Mumtaz Ali Bhutto in 2017, merged his SNF party with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed condolences with the deceased’s family. In a Tweet message, the Prime Minister prayed for the departed soul of Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021