GUJRAT: Candidates of different political parties have started making political alignments for NA-108 (Mandi Bahauddin) by-poll.

The seat fell vacant after an election tribunal of the Lahore High Court disqualified MNA Ijaz Chaudhry for his fake degree.

The latest development in the constituency is the joining of the PML-Q by Hamza Nasir Iqbal, a scion of the renowned political family of the area, the Chelianwala family, and the nephew of a senior leader of the PML-N and a former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Senator Chaudhry Jaafar Iqbal.

Hamza’s father Nasir Iqbal Chelianwala had been elected as an MNA from this constituency in 1990.

The veteran Muslim Leaguer, Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal Chelianwala (late), who had been elected as MNA for several times in the Gujrat district, was the grandfather of Hamza Nasir who will be the PML-Q nominee in NA-108.

The Chelianwala family, which had started contesting elections from Rahim Yar Khan in 1993, has not contested any election either from Gujrat or Mandi Bahauddin district, but they never disconnected themselves from their native Chelianwala village, now part of the Mandi Bahauddin district.

Two former PPP MNAs from the NA-108, Chaudhry Zafarullah Tarrar and Chaudhry Tariq Tarrar Raika besides disqualified MNA Ijaz Chaudhry and his family have already joined the PTI whereas former Phalia tehsil nazim Shakil Gulzar and former Mandi Bahauddin tehsil nazim Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry, the elder brother of disqualified MNA Ijaz, are also aspirants of the PTI ticket for the by-polls.

Zafarullah Tarrar and Tariq Tarrar had been the candidates of PTI and PPP, respectively, in the May 2013 general elections, but Tariq Tarrar had joined the PTI a few months ago and sources say he is being considered a front runner for the PTI ticket.

Aadil Imtiaz, the nephew of disqualified MNA Ijaz Chaudhry, is said to be a second choice.

Ijaz Chaudhry had been elected MNA as an independent candidate from NA-108 in the 2013 general elections and then joined the PML-N, but he switched over his loyalty to the PTI months before being disqualified.

The ruling PML-N is likely to award a ticket to its previous runner-up candidate Mumtaz Ahmed Tarrar, also a three-time MNA from the same constituency.

The Pakistan People’s Party is going to field its former MPA Asif Basheer Bhagat from Phalia tehsil while Jamaat-i-Islami’s likely choice is said to be Riaz Farooq Sahi who had contested the 2013 general elections and bagged over 18,000 votes.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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