GUJRAT: The Chaudhrys of PML-Q may capitalise on the alleged rift in the PML-N ahead of elections for the top slots of Gujrat district council and municipal committees.

The PML-N awarded ticket for the district council chairman’s poll to Kotla group’s Tanveer Kotla, which created a serious rift in the party as the Nawabzadas and some other groups felt betrayed by the party leadership.

The Nawabzada family’s candidature in the district council had remained unchallenged so far since the inception of the local bodies system in the sub-continent as the family always enjoyed unanimous candidature of all political groups while being in the PPP for four decades against archrivals, the Chaudhrys.

A senior family member on condition of anonymity said that their group’s nominee Nawabzada Tahirul Mulk was denied a ticket for the first time in their political history.

“We defeated the Chaudhrys, who have been prime minister, chief minister and ministers in almost every government, yet we are not offered any ministerial slot and it is widely believed in the district that Nawabzadas have been finally ditched by the PML-N leadership,” he said, adding that it remains to be seen how they would survive this vital political blow.

On the other hand, sensing this rift in the PML-N, the Chaudhrys have become active in the election by fielding Begum Sameera Elahi, the sister of Chaudhry Shujaat, for the top slot of district council with support from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Analysts believe the PML-Q leadership intended to deploy all their resources, influence and experience to turn the tables by winning over members of the disgruntled PML-N groups. They also feel that this was the last battle for the Chaudhrys for their political survival and recover the ground lost to the PML-N in Gujrat.

Moreover, Jalalpur Jattan is another example of serious differences within the local ranks of PML-N for the top slots. The party had clear majority here but in the reserved seats elections, four councillors defected, resulting in the loss of youth seat to PML-Q and a tie in minority and labour seat.

Now, six PML-N councillors in Jalalpur Jattan had defected to PML-Q that has nominated one of them for chairman’s slot. Now, both parties had 16 councillors each, however two from the PML-N had filed their nomination papers independently for the top slots in the Jalalpur Jattan Municipal Corporation, which would make PML-Q the clear winner.

Ignoring the Nawabzadas has shocked the people of Gujrat in general and particularly in NA-104. They are in serious consultations besides being under tremendous pressure from their group to send a strong message to the leadership not to undermine their historic and longstanding political position.

However, Nawabzada Tahirul Mulk, who was an aspirant for the top slot of the district, told Dawn that his group’s meeting was held at Kothi Nawab Sahib on Sunday where elected chairmen from various union councils presented suggestions for a future course of action, but the final decision made was that the group would abide by the leadership’s decision.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2016