TOBA TEK SINGH: In Faisalabad’s PP-115 constituency, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUi-F) candidate Zikrya Shah announced supporting PML-N candidate Mian Tahir Jamil.

PML-N leader Abid Sher Ali addressed a gathering at Jamia Abaidia seminary in Allama Iqbal Colony, stating that the JUI-F and the PML-N were allies.

WOMAN CANDIDATE: A woman candidate in Pirmahal tehsil has entered the election arena in Toba Tek Singh.

Begum Saima Ali Raza, seeking candidacy for PP 124, faced rejection of her nomination papers by the returning officer. The objection was related to her allegedly overstating her farmland holdings in the forms.

She filed an appeal before the election tribunal of Lahore High Court and later before a three-member LHC division bench, led by Justice Ali Baqar Najfi, which accepted her appeal, granting her permission to contest the election.

In her appeal, she argued that the additional land owned by her was not updated in the computerised records of the revenue department, as she had acquired it after the land records were computerized.

She is the widow of former late provincial minister Syed Ali Raza, the landowner in the district. Raza served as an MNA and six times MPA from 1977 to 2013. Raza’s daughter from his first wife, ex-MPA Sonia Ali Raza, is now a PTI candidate for the same constituency.

Both Saima and Sonia will face PML-N ticket holder Pir Qutab Ali Baba in the election. Saima’s entry into politics poses a significant political threat to both Ali Baba and Sonia.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024