GUJRAT: A group of PML-N workers, led by former union council chairman Safdar Mumtaz Sandhu, has announced its support for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in NA-69 and PP-30.

Sandhu had filed his nomination papers in PP-30 and applied for a PML-N ticket, but the party nominated Raza Ali Warraich in the constituency. Later, Mr Warraich’s nomination papers were rejected by an election tribunal over possession of dual nationality.

The PML-N is expected to face further problems in PP-30 where Mr Sandhu was said to be the second choice for the party. But he has withdrawn his nomination papers in favour of Mr Elahi and so has Mian Amjad Mehmood, another aspirant who was refused a PML-N ticket.

The PML-N may now choose Raza Warraich’s brother, Chaudhry Zulfiqar, as its candidate for PP-30.

SEAT ADJUSTMENT: A group of disgruntled workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has agreed to adjust seats with Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) in NA-68 (Jalalpur Jattan-Tanda) to jointly contest the polls for this NA and two PA seats.

According to the deal, Tanveer Gondal, who was denied a PTI ticket, will run for PP-29 as an independent candidate with the MMA’s support, and announced withdrawal of his nomination papers from NA-68 in favour of MMA’s Hafiz Zubair Ahmed. The MMA’s Raja Mudabbar Siddique announced to withdraw from PP-29 in favour of Mr Gondal, who would also support MMA’s Riaz Harrar in PP-28.

The announcement of seat adjustment was made on Friday at a news conference addressed by MMA’s Gujrat President Dr Tariq Salim, Tanveer Gondal, Ansar Dhool and other leaders of both sides.

The leaders vowed to strive for “liberating” the people of NA-68 from the “clutches of Chaudhrys of PML-Q and the Nawabzada family”.

Tanveer Gondal, a former chairman of Gujrat district Zakat committee, had earlier been affiliated with the PML-N since 2001 and his elder brother, Shabbir Gondal, contested elections for PP-109 (now PP-29) as a PML-N nominee in 2008. However after the Nawabzada family joined the PML-N, the party has been ignoring the Gondal family, who were not allowed to contest the union council elections in 2016 due to alleged opposition by the Nawabzada family.

The Gondals then joined the PTI and Tanveer applied for a ticket for NA-68 and PP-29, but the party entered into seat adjustment with the PML-Q, denying Tanveer a ticket.

Meanwhile, another disgruntled PTI leader and former ticket-holder from NA-105 (now NA-69) has withdrawn his nomination papers from the constituency after the party refused him a ticket as Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has been declared the joint candidate of PML-Q and PTI from NA-69 and PP-30.

Former Punjab education minister Mian Imran Masood of the PML-Q had earlier tried to convince Mr Gondal to withdraw from the race as per the seat adjustment.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2018