LAHORE: It was a bad day for the estranged PML-N members of the Punjab Assembly as they were greeted by boos by other lawmakers of the party when they reached the building of the assembly to attend its session.

Mian Jalil Sharaqpuri, who had publicly differed with his party’s chief Nawaz Sharif on his anti-establishment stance and had also met Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, was particularly targeted at the assembly gate.

Mian Rauf, Mirza Javed and others encircled him, raised slogans of lota (turncoat) against him and placed a small plastic lota on his head before letting him go.

The MPA from Sharaqpur, Sheikhupura, was also asked to resign from his seat for returning the mandate of the party.

Refusing to resign at the call of Rauf and others, he said he would quit only of his free will and made it clear that the PML-N leadership itself had approached him a ticket for the provincial seat.

Mr Sharaqpuri told the media that Nawaz Sharif was still his leader though he had differences with him on policy matters. He said he had submitted an application with the speaker and urged PML-N Punjab president Rana Sanaullah to act against MPA Mian Rauf for humiliating him and obstructing his entry to the assembly.

However, during the assembly proceedings, Speaker Pervaiz Elahi said he had neither received any application nor could he act against an event that occurred outside the House.

Inside the House, Khalil Tahir Sindhu, Mujtaba Shuja, Bilal Yasin, ex-speaker Rana Iqbal and other members of the PML-N surrounded Maulana Ghayasuddin, another estranged MPA, and asked him to either tender his resignation or leave the opposition benches to join the treasury.

Maulana Ghayas argued that he didn’t violate party discipline by calling on the CM. He, however, left the house seeing the aggressive mood of the PML-N members.

In a brief statement later, he condemned the treatment meted out to Mr Sharaqpuri and criticised the Sharifs for, what he said, going abroad after ‘plundering’ national wealth and leaving the party as an orphan.

PML-N information secretary Azma Bokhari claimed that Faisal Niazi, yet another rebel MPA, had resigned from his party membership. A picture was also released showing Mr Niazi writing something on a white paper in the opposition leader’s chamber.

It may be mentioned that five PML-N MPAs, including Ashraf Ansari and Nishat Daha besides Sharaqpuri, Ghayas and Niazi, had recently called on CM Buzdar without permission of the leadership.

The party had announced taking action against them and issued them show-cause notices.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2020