LAHORE, Dec 25: A number of functions were arranged here by the provincial as well as city chapter of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to celebrate Nawaz Sharif’s birthday on Tuesday.

Before cutting a birthday cake at the party’s provincial secretariat, PML-N Punjab Secretary-General Raja Ashraf Sarwar said Sharif wanted the party workers to unite to foil ‘rigging attempts’ by the government. “The workers should act like custodians of polling stations in their areas so that no one can manipulate the election or its result,” Sarwar quoted Sharif as saying.

At a ceremony at the residence of Mian Mujtaba, a PML-N candidate for PP-141, Hamza Shahbaz was the chief guest.

Several party workers and well-wishers thronged Sharif’s Model Town and Jati Umra residences to wish him a happy birthday, but he was out of the city for electioneering.