April 1, 2002	Monday	Muharram 17, 1423

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TOBA TEK SINGH, March 31: With delimitation to national and provincial constituencies in the district, various changes pertaining to the candidates of independent groups and political parties are on the cards.

Sources told Dawn that the delimitation recommended by district Nazim Chaudhry Muhammad Ashfaq was not accepted by the election commission. However, he said, a senior officer in the president Gen Pervez Musharraf’s secretariat had proposed the change in the constituencies of the district as his relative residing here would contest in October elections from a local provincial assembly seat.

After the delimitation of three NA seats, NA 92, NA 93 and NA 94, and PA seats PP 84, PP 85, PP 86, PP 87, PP 88, PP 89 and PP 90, the villages of previous six Punjab assemblies (now seven seats) have been mixed without considering their tehsil limits.

Former federal minister and PML-N leader Chaudhry Asadur Rahman (brother of Supreme Court Judge Justice Khalil Ramday) always contested from Kamalia tehsil NA seat against former federal minister and PPP leader Khalid Ahmad Kharal. However, the new delimitation has excluded at least 25 villages (Arain caste) from his constituency and they have been included in Toba tehsil NA seat. Now, he has no option but to contesting next election from Toba Tek Singh tehsil NA seat.

Currently, a half dozen candidates have sent their applications to PPP. They include Mr Kharal and his son Haider Ali Kharal (from Kamalia), PPP district president and former MNA Haji Muhammad Ishaq (from Gojra), district Nazim’s cousin Chaudhry Muhammad Zahid, PPP tehsil president Chaudhry Saeed Akhtar and two others.

The Nazim’s loyalties with the PPP are in doubt as he had previously contested district Nazim’s elections on the ticket of PML-QA.

A recent meeting of the PPP members at Khalid Kharal’s residence in Kamalia discussed the issue of Chaudhry Ashfaq’s loyalty with PPP.

Three party leaders, PPP district President Haji Muhammad Ishaq, tehsil President Chaudhry Saeed Akhtar and Toba city party President Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi termed Chaudhry Ashfaq’s association ‘harmful’.

However, his cousin and Khalid Kharal defended th