GUJRAT: The PML-Q has won at least eight seats of the Punjab Assembly from five districts after making seat adjustment with the PTI across the province.

A source in PML-Q says the party may join hands with the PTI in formation of the governments in Punjab as well as at the centre and Pervaiz Elahi’s name will be floated as a potential candidate for the slot of chief minister. Mr Elahi won on three seats, including two NA and one PA. The source added that the power corridors that paved the way for the seat adjustment between the PML-Q and PTI for the July 25 election had already given signals to see Mr Elahi as the CM in coalition with the PTI and other allies such as PPP with whom the Chaudhrys enjoyed cordial relations for the past one decade.

Asked how a candidate from smaller party will be accepted by a majority party as leader of the house in Punjab, a senior PML-Q leader replied the Punjab had such examples in the past when Mian Manzoor Wattoo of the PML (Junejo) was elected as CM despite having only 18 seats as compared to the PPP’s more than 100 seats in that alliance whereas in Balochistan the PML-Q’s Abdul Qadoos Bezinjo had also been elected as the CM with only five votes of the PML-Q in that assembly some six months back.

The PML-Q’s candidates who have won on the provincial assembly seats are: Shujaat Nawaz Ajnala (PP-28), Abdullah Yousaf Warraich (PP-29), Pervaiz Elahi (PP-30 Gujrat), Hafiz Ammar Yasir (PP-24 Chakwal), Bao Rizwan from (PP-41 Sialkot) and Dr Afzal and Ahsanul Haq (Bahawalpur) whereas Sajid Ahmed Bhatti, an independent candidate backed by PML-Q, won on PP-67 Mandi Bahauddin and he announced joining the party on Friday.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2018