December 23, 2005	Friday	Ziqa’ad 20, 1426

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TOBA TEK SINGH, Dec 22: Mian Farhan Latif, a ruling party MNA, has assured Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi that he has nothing to do with the campaign launched against the provincial government top brass by the forward bloc. Mr Latif is a nephew of former district nazim Chaudhry Muhammad Ashfaq and son of Mian Muhammad Latif, the chief executive of a leading chain of stores.

A source told this correspondent that the list, which was sent to apprise President Gen Pervez Musharraf of the alleged wrongdoings of the Chaudhrys, had the name of Mian Farhan as well. The MNA, however, was silent on the issue.

Mian Farhan, along with his father, uncle (Chaudhry Ashfaq), provincial parliamentary secretary Javed Akram (an MPA from Rajana), and MPA from Pirmahal Liaquat Ali Shaukat, called on the chief minister and informed him that he had not signed the list.

The MNA and other delegates, said the source, urged the chief minister to grant party support for naib nazim slot to the Ashfaq group for Toba Tek Singh district and tehsil councils. They sought his support for Toba union council nazim Saeed Ahmad Saeedi as PML-backed candidate.

The chief minister, however, informed the delegation that the party would take a decision after consulting various party leaders, parliamentarians and office-bearers.

The source claimed that a few days earlier, PML MNA from Gojra Chaudhry Amjad Ali Warraich and MPA Chaudhry Bilal Warraich had met the CM, who assured them that Amjad’s brother-in-law Chaudhry Sajjad Sohail, who is Gojra city nazim, would be the ruling party choice for the district naib nazim slot.

Meanwhile, District Nazim Chaudhry Abdul Sattar had also seen Pervaiz Elahi in the last week and discussed the issue with the commitment that he would honour the party’s choice.

On the other hand, Punjab Forest Minister Dr Ashfaqur Rehman, Punjab Women Development Minister Begum Ashfa Fatyana and her husband, MNA Riaz Fatyana, are united against the candidature of the Warraich group’s Sajjad Sohail and supporting Pirmahal Town union council nazim Chaudhry Sultan Ahmad and former MPA Rao Iqbal’s son, Rao Azhar Iqbal (a union council nazim from Kamalia), for the district naib nazim slot.

After the amendment to the election procedure, a show of hand will decide the fate of the contenders and it is believed to be a tough ask to vote against the ruling party candidate.

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