CHAKWAL, Sept 3: At last the workers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have had a sigh of relief after their top leadership awarded ticket to Malik Kabir for NA-61 by-election on Wednesday.

Malik Kabir, an advocate of the Supreme Court had joined PML-N in 1985. He has been general secretary of the PML-N’s Chakwal chapter for 12 years and elected member of district council for four times. He had also served as assistant advocate general of Punjab.

Local members of parliament, particularly Ayaz Amir, had put the party into a fix by insisting that ticket should be awarded to Sardar Mumtaz Tamman, a turncoat who supported Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in general elections of 2008.

But the workers of PML-N opposed Mumtaz Tamman and made their point clear to the Sharifs that ticket should be awarded to a true PML-N worker. The central executive committee of PML-N in its meeting on Tuesday in Islamabad could not decide about its candidate for NA 61.

However party’s top leadership again met in Lahore on Wednesday and decided to award ticket to Malik Kabir.

Talking to Dawn, another loyal member of PML N Malik Khushal Khan said that the decision was taken purely on merit. He said that he would strain his every nerve to get votes for Malik Kabir.

Malik Kabir, a less known personality in his constituency as compared to his rival Malik Salim Iqbal, will have to work hard to win the elections.

His rival Malik Salim Iqbal, had been elected member provincial assembly for five times from PML-N’s platform. He had also served as tehsil nazim for two consecutive tenures and that too from PML-N platform.

But he was expelled from PML-N for supporting former chief minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi in 2008 general elections.

Now he is going to contest the by-election as an independent candidate. Malik Salim Iqbal has a huge vote bank and he is also being supported by former MPA and district nazim Sardar Ghulam Abbas.

The seat fell vacant when Sardar Faiz Tamman of PML-N had resigned on July 2 for allegedly holding fake graduation degree.