MUZAFFARGARH: PML-N MPA Azhar Abbas Chandia on Tuesday rejected the claim of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar that the parliamentarian from Muzaffargarh had called on him on Monday, saying he would fervently participate in a PML-N workers convention scheduled for Nov 5 in the south Punjab city.

Interestingly, CM Buzdar had insisted the PML-N MPA met him.

In a video message, the MPA said he didn’t have any meeting with CM Buzdar, claiming he was still loyal to his party, the PML-N.

“I [had] met the chief minister in the past. But when my party objected to it, I stopped seeing him,” he said and pledged to remain in the PML-N fold and loyal to the party leadership till his last breath.

Chandia asked the Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf government to stop “propaganda” against him in this regard. He further said he, along with his supporters, would attend the PML-N workers convention to be held in Muzaffargarh on Nov 5.

Reaffirms loyalty to PML-N

The chief minister’s office insisted that the meeting took place on Monday and Mr Chandia’s son Naeem Abbas Chandia was also present there to discuss PP-269 (Muzaffargarh-II) constituency problems.

PML-N information secretary Azma Bokhari had said that out of desperation the PTI Punjab government issued ‘fake news’ to the media and embarrassed the CM.

Meanwhile, talking to Dawn Chandia also distanced himself from the so-called ‘forward bloc’ comprising some PML-N dissidents. He said following the CM meeting controversy, he had explained his position to the local PML-N groups led by Sardar Awais Leghari and Sultan Hinjra and “satisfied them ”.

Last year, a group of five PML-N dissident local MPAs, including Azhar Abbas Chandia, had held meetings with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and were assured of development schemes and funds for their constituencies. They were told that the district administration had also been asked to release funds for their respective constituencies and accord them “protocol”.

However, Abbas Chandia’s son Naeem Chandia told Dawn that the PTI government failed to fulfil its commitment and they were disappointed as neither any funds, nor development projects were given to their constituencies.

He claimed that at the November 5 convention where many ex-parliamentarians and local leaders would be joining the PML-N, Mr Chandia would also “rejoin” the party.

He said the local PML-N leaders had submitted an application with Deputy Commissioner Amjad Shoaib Tareen seeking permission to hold the party convention, but the district administration was not allowing it so far. Ex-MPA Hammad Nawaz Tipu warned if the district administration did not grant the permission, the PML-N workers would hold protest rallies and demonstrations on the roads of Muzaffargarh.

He said party vice-president Mariam Nawaz’s arrival at the workers convention was still not confirmed because she had plans to visit Gilgit-Baltistan.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2020