GUJRAT: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has formally nominated former PPP MNA Chaudhry Tariq Tarrar of Raika, who had joined the party last year, as its candidate for the by-election in NA-108 (Phalia-Mandi Bahauddin).

The PTI ignored the family of former MNA Ijaz Chaudhry who was disqualified by the court over a fake degree and concealing the assets and the seat fell vacant after his disqualification. Mr Chaudhry wanted the PTI ticket for his nephew, Aadil Imtiaz Chaudhry.

Read: ECP de-notifies PTI and PML-N lawmakers

The party also ignored another former MNA Zafarullah Tarrar. Both Zafarullah and the party’s current candidate, Tariq Tarrar, were once the PPP men in the area but the former joined the PML-Q in 2008 and then the PTI in 2012.

Tariq won the provincial assembly seat for the PPP in 1993 election and he became an MNA for the party in 2008.

The decision to award the PTI ticket to Tariq Tarrar was announced by PTI Punjab president Ejaz Chaudhry at a news conference in Mandi Bahauddin, causing disappointment to both Zafarullah and the disqualified MNA Ijaz Chaudhry.

The disqualified Ijaz Chaudhry, once again, received a cold response from his new political party, this time the PTI, that he had joined six months back, by quitting the PML-N. The PML-N leadership had ignored Ijaz Chaudhry twice by not awarding him a party ticket first in 2008 general elections when he had joined the party after ditching the PML-Q from whose platform he was elected as MNA in 2002 and 2013 general elections. In two previous general elections, 2008 and 2013, Nawaz Sharif allotted the ticket to his trust worthy former MNA Mumtaz Ahmad Tarrar who had won the election from the constituency for three times but remained a runner-up in the last election against Ijaz Chaudhry, an independent candidate, who later joined the PML-N and then the PTI. Sources say the PML-N is likely to award ticket once again to Mumtaz Tarrar for the by-election.

A source in Ijaz Chaudhry’s family say the group has not yet decided whether to it will field it would field its own independent candidate or support any other candidate. He told Dawn that since the Ijaz Chaudhry belonged to the Gujjar clan that had only one candidate previously in the last three general elections of the Jutt clan-dominated NA-108, the chances of Mr Chaudhry extending support to the PML-Q nominee, Hamza Nasir Chaudhry, of the Gujjar clan could not be ruled out.

It will be an interesting contest in NA-108 by-election where PPP’s Asif Basheer Bhagat and Jamaat-i- Islami’s Riaz Farooq Sahi will also be in the race. Both the PPP and the JI have a sizeable support in the constituency.

Candidates can file nomination papers for the by-election in the constituency on May 4 and May 5. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on May 6 and May 7 while appeals against the decisions of returning officer regarding acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be filed until May 12. The polling will be held on June 8.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2015

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