September 17, 2002	Tuesday	Rajab 9, 1423

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GUJRAT, Sept 16: Differences between the Chaudhris of Gujrat and the Phalia tehsil Nazim have come to an end following withdrawal of nomination papers by the latter’s brother in favour of a PML-QA man for PP-117.

The differences had cropped up when the Chaudhris refused to give ticket to Shakil Gulzar from Phalia during the 2001 local elections. Instead, the Chaudhris gave the ticket to Yaqoob Tarrar, the brother of ex-MPA Chaudhry Tariq Tarrar, and requested Shakil to support him. But he turned down their request and won the slot of tehsil Nazim after contesting as an independent candidate.

Later, Shujaat Husain assured Shakil Gulzar full support over any issue in future. Shakil is a close relative and business partner of the Chaudhris.

But the differences again surfaced when Shakil asked the Chaudhris to give party ticket to his brother, Waseem Gulzar, for PP-117, the sources said. They claimed the Chaudhris told Shakil that his brother would prove a weak candidate and gave the ticket to Riaz Asghar Warraich, a former chairman of the Mandi Bahauddin district council and the brother-in-law of Shujaat Husain. However, Waseem vowed to contest as an independent candidate.

It was shocking for political circles when Waseem withdrew his candidature on Saturday.

Earlier, political pundits were predicting that Waseem would win the polls with a big margin as his brother was very influential in the constituency. PML-QA ticket holder Riaz Asghar had also told the Chaudhris that if Waseem did not withdraw, he would not be in a winning position.

The sources claimed that the Chaudhris had been trying to convince Shakil for the last 20 days to ask his brother to withdraw in favour of Riaz Asghar.