LAHORE: The South Punjab chapter of the PPP hopes that its nominee for the by-election in NA-193, Rajanpur, will be supported by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Jafar Leghari.

A consultative meeting of the PPP held on Friday under the chair of former governor Makhdum Syed Ahmed Mahmud. It was attended by Rajanpur district and Dera Ghazi Khan division leadership, former ticket-holders as well as all six hopefuls for the seat. They included sitting MPA Shazia Abid, Akhtar Khan Gorchani and his son and ex-MPA Athar Gorchani.

The meeting discussed strategies for running a vigorous election campaign for the party’s nominee who would be decided by Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as all six aspirants met the criteria for the purpose, says an official of the PPP.

The participants hoped that the PDM constituents, including the PML-N, would not only fully support the PPP candidate but also play an active role in the election campaign instead of pitching its own nominee.

They said Ms Abid had secured 28,000 votes in the 2018 general election while the PML-N could not field its candidate for the seat then as its nominee, Sher Ali Gorchani, had ditched the party and contested the polls as an independent contestant. Ms Abid was the runner-up and thus the PPP had the right to lay claim to the seat with the support of the PDM, they added.

The meeting formed various committees for running a vigorous election campaign.

Those who attended the meeting included senior vice president Khwaja Rizwan Alam, chief coordinator Abdul Qadir Shaheen, Makhdoom Usman Mahmood, Shazia Abid, Akhtar Gorchani, Ghazanfar Langah, Nasrullah Tareen, Riaz Samia, Rao Sajid and others. The Election Commission of Pakistan has fixed Feb 26 for the by-election.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2023