LAHORE, Sept 16: Opposition suffered a major blow in Kasur when the nomination papers of its district nazim candidate, Rana Hayat Khan, were rejected by the returning officer on Friday. Kasur is one of the few districts in the Punjab where the opposition is in better position to give a tough time to the ruling party-backed candidates for nazim slots.

According to reports reaching here, the returning officer who is also Kasur additional district and sessions judge, rejected Hayat Khan’s nomination on the charge of over Rs 15million bank default.

His candidature was challenged by his cousin and ruling party nominee Rana Imtiaz Khan. Determined to challenge the rejection, Rana Hayat said that the default case had already been settled through superior courts.

Also the district PML-N president, Hayat was the joint ARD nominee and a potential opponent of the PML candidate. If his appeal is rejected, his covering candidate is Rana Iqbal, a former provincial minister.

Meanwhile, papers of four candidates for reserved seats of labour/peasant were also rejected on various grounds.—IA