TOBA TEK SINGH, July 29: Former district nazim and Punjab PML vice president Chaudry Muhammad Ashfaq and his political opponent Dr Ashfaqur Rehman, provincial forest minister and also a ruling party member, have fielded candidates against almost all union councils at the district headquarter and rural areas of Toba tehsil.

In Gojra tehsil, MNA Chaudry Amjad Ali Warraich, MPA Chaudhry Bilal Asghar Warraich and former tehsil nazim Chaudry Khalid Javed Warraich (all brothers and PML members) have announced their panels.

They face a strong opposition alliance of former PML-N MNA Hamza, former PPP MNA Haji Muhammad Ishaq, PML-N MPA Chaudry Azhar Nadeem, former MPA Chaudry Ihsanul Haq Gujjar, former district council naib nazim and former MPA Haji Ghulam Rabbani and former market committee chairman Chaudry Asad Zaman Cheema.

The alliance also enjoys the support of the forest minister.

In Kamalia, ruling party MNA Riaz Fatyana, Punjab Women Development Minister Ashfa Riaz Fatyana and PML office-bearers have announced candidates for all union councils of the tehsil while former PPP federal information minister Khalid Ahmad Kharal and other opposition groups have also put up candidates against ruling party nominees.

Khalid Kharal’s candidates are also supported by former district nazim Chaudry Ashfaq.

So far, Col Naveed Mushtaq Gill (brother-in-law of forest minister Dr Ashfaq) candidate of district nazim slot, has not taken extraordinary interest to support any candidate in any union council.

Talking to this correspondent from Lahore, he claimed that he would support only honest candidates.

He is expected to be a candidate of the ruling party while Chaudry Ashfaq also claims that he had the backing of the ruling party leadership and President Pervez Musharraf.

Meanwhile, former provincial minister Makhdoom Syed Ali Raza is in run for a UC Nazim seat from Kamalia tehsil. He is father of PPP MPA from Pirmahal Makhdoom Syed Hussain Raza and son of late Makhdoom Syed Nasir Hussain (a former member of the West Pakistan assembly).

Ali Raza also remained last chairman of the Faisalabad District Council before the upgradation of Toba Tek Singh tehsil as district.

Local political circles believe that Ali Raza also has his eyes on the district nazim’s slot being a friend of the Punjab chief minister.