LAHORE, Nov 27: The provincial leadership of the PPP and PML-N blanched when they heard the result of the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly’s election on Wednesday, which was a clear indication that more than a dozen of their men had supported the PML-Q candidate.

An important leader of the breakaway Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (Patriot) claimed that a forward bloc in the Punjab Assembly was in the making.

Leaders of the PPP and PML-N are now trying to identify possible defectors, but they think the situation would become clear only on Friday when the election for the Punjab chief minister will be held by show of hands.

PML-Q candidate for speaker, Afzal Sahi, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that he had the support of 227 MPAs but on Wednesday he received 243 votes — 16 more than his expectations.

On the other hand, the PML-N candidate, Rana Mashhood, received 108 votes, which came from his own party, the PPP and the MMA.

According to a PPP leader, the party initially had 79 MPAs, of which four had already joined hands with the PML-Q. One more parted ways on Tuesday, reducing the party’s strength to 74.

The PML-N had 44 MPAs. But it lost one when Chaudhry Talib crossed over to the PML-Q side, only a day after he said at a news conference that he would stand by the party at all costs.

The MMA has 11 legislators in the Punjab Assembly. But its effective strength was nine as a member elected on two seats has yet to take oath.

All put together, the opposition candidate should have received 126 votes.

Excluding the two rejected votes and one absentee, the opposition nominee received 15 votes less than expected.

A PPP leader said that their MPA’s were being pressured by their dissident MNAs and the intelligence agency as well.

“The PPP has lost nine members and the PML-N one,” a PML-N leader said while referring to the difference in the number of votes his party candidate had actually received.

He said the PML-N had lost only Chaudhry Talib, who had only Tuesday returned to the party ranks with the pledge that he would work under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif. Today, he said, he had joined hands with the PML(Q).