LAHORE, Jan 13: The Punjab Assembly’s constituency PP-147 (Lahore XI) comprises half portions of union councils 31, 32 and 33 and complete union councils of 54, 75, 76, 78 and 96.
Major biradaris residing in the constituency are Kamboh, Pathan and Arain who had voted PML-N and MMA’s joint candidate Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to the provincial assembly in the Oct 10 general election last year. Baseer Chand of the PPP had stood second with 8,000 ballots. As the Sardar had also been elected to the National Assembly, he vacated the Punjab Assembly seat on the direction of his party (PML-N).
Three candidates — the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy joint nominee Syed Zaeem Husain Qadri, PML-Q’s Abdul Aleem Khan and MMA’s Amirul Azeem — are in the run for the Jan 15 bypoll for the seat.
The PML-N and the PPP are members of the ARD.
Mr Khan had lost to Pakistan’s Awami Tehrik’s Dr Tahirul Qadri in the Oct 10 polls from NA-127 despite his heavy ‘investment’. Owing to his connections within the Q-League, he had managed to get its ticket for the bypoll. He is also enjoying full support of the government to win the seat as railway minister Ghaus Bakhsh Mehr had, in an election meeting a few days ago, announced granting of ownership rights to the residents of Kutcha Abadis on railway land.
The announcement has created a good impression of the Q-League though some residents of the area claim that the Kutcha Abadi people had been granted proprietary rights back in 1985. However, they were never issued certificates to the effect.
The other two candidates allege that government employees, specially of education department and city district government, are being forced to attend election meetings of Aleem Khan.
The MMA is being supported by the Pakistan Mazdoor Ittehad, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf whose nominee Shadab Jafry had clinched 5,500 votes in the Oct 10 polls from the seat, and labourers of railway colonies.
The MMA claims that 80 per cent Pathan residents of the area are supporting its candidate.
The other Punjab Assembly seat in Lahore where bypolls are to be held on Jan 15 is PP-142. It consists of union councils 27, 28, 29, 30, 73, 74 and 77.
It has been vacated by PML-N’s Punjab general secretary Khwaja Saad Rafiq who had also been elected to the National Assembly in the general election.
The ARD has fielded PML-N’s Punjab vice-president Inamullah Khan Niazi who had failed to win NA seat from his home district Mianwali.
The PML-Q has nominated former town Nazim Qaiser Amin Butt and the MMA Advocate Ziauddin Ansari. Mr Ansari is former Naib Nazim of UC-74 and is a known social worker of the area.
The MMA is giving more attention to PP-147 as it has fielded Mr Ansari from PP-142 in the hope that the step will force the PML-N to withdraw its candidate from PP-147.
