Islamabad, July 21 : Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz are unlikely to be transferred to the Sihala Rest House owing to its lack of proper security arrangements needed for the high-profile prisoners, media reports said on Saturday.

The accountability court that had convicted Sharif and his daughter had ordered they be sent to Adiala Jail after they were taken into custody at the Lahore airport and produced before it on July 13.

However, the Islamabad Chief Commissioner had also ordered shifting of both the father and the daughter and her husband Capt Safdar (retired), who was already in the Adiala Jail, to the Sihala Rest House situated inside the Sihala Police Training College.

The authorities said the rest house was not safe for the Sharif family, Dawn News reported. The rest house has six rooms, all with air conditioners, proper beds and wash rooms, but no boundary wall.

A major indication that the Sharifs might not be shifted to the rest house was that the authorities were considering shifting some very dangerous prisoners to somewhere else in the province to ensure proper security for the former Prime Minister and his daughter, the report quoted an Adiala Jail official as saying.

The official said it was twice or thrice attempted to shift Maryam to Sihala Rest House but she firmly refused.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of Opposition BJP in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka said the results of the bypolls in Davanagere South and Bagalkote assembly constituencies will decide the future of the ruling Congress in the state.

The bypolls were necessitated following the demise of sitting Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, who represented Davanagere South and Bagalkote constituencies respectively.

The ruling Congress has fielded Shamanur Shivashankarappa’s grandson and Karnataka Minister S S Mallikarjun’s son Samarth Shamanur in Davanagere South and Umesh Meti in Bagalkote, who are locked in a direct contest with BJP candidates T Dasakariyappa and Veerabhadrayya Charantimath.

According to Ashoka, there is a contest between the poor and the rich in the upcoming bypolls, scheduled on April 9.

"The Congress will lose this election, and the future of the state will be decided. Since Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said ‘Make the poor win’, the BJP has fielded poor candidates,” the BJP leader said in a press conference.

In Davanagere, the BJP has given a ticket to an ordinary person, whereas Congress has given tickets to powerful and influential people. In Bagalkote, there is a very good opinion about the BJP candidate, he claimed.

According to him, the Congress has given space to dynastic politics in both places. Therefore, the BJP has a strong chance of winning in both constituencies.

The LoP said if the Congress candidate wins in Davanagere, it is understood that Muslims will not get opportunities in the future, and therefore, Muslims are opposing the Congress party.

He also charged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who talks about uniting backward classes, has not given a ticket to backward class candidates.