TAXILA: After a four-year long hiatus, estranged PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has re-emerged in the political arena after having back to back meetings with his supporters in his two different constituencies by announcing that “he is not out of the political game” and he would contest the upcoming general election.

The veteran politician contested the 2018 general election as an independent candidate with the election symbol of a jeep. He lost the National Assembly (NA) seat but managed to win a Punjab Assembly seat.

Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, while addressing his supporters in his first of open door meeting at the house of former councillor and close aide Saeed Nawaz, said he would contest the next general election with a new strategy and would announce just before the election, which political party and which constituency he would represent.

However, in his address in Wah, he made it clear that he is against ancestral politics and will not launch his son, Taimour Ali Khan, in any constituency as a candidate.

Although his son was also accompanying him, he dispelled the impression that he is launching his son at one of the constituencies and said he did not become a part of “politics of abuse” during the last four years and now, the time had come that he re-launched his political activities in his constituency in the best interest of the people of the area, especially his voters and supporters.

With the political temperature rising, the government has announced country-wide mass contact programmes and all political leaders and aspiring candidates through different contents have launched public contact drives.

Mr Khan’s rival, PTI leader Ghulam Sarwar Khan, his son Member of Punjab Assembly Mansoor Hayat Khan and nephew MPA Ammar Sadeeq Khan have also launched a public contact drive through inauguration of different development projects especially road projects, while his daughter Zainab Hayat Khan launched the Ehsaas ration registration programme to get support from people and his supporters.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2022