The political fever is rising in NA-108 as political stalwarts from various parties have visited the constituency to back their respective candidates.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) central leader Hamza Shahbaz, Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq and former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi have personally visited the constituency where the by-polls will be held on June 8.
NO MORE FRIENDLY OPPOSITION:
On behalf of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah and Nadeem Afzal Chan addressed a huge political gathering to boost the support for PPP’s candidate Asif Bhagat on Thursday.
Addressing the rally, Gilani reminded the people of Mandi Bahauddin that it was none other than PPP which had awarded the area a status of district two decades ago for which they had been struggling for decades. Before the creation of the district, Mandi Bahauddin and Malakwal were the part of Phalia tehsil in Gujrat district.
Gillani criticised his own party’s reconciliation policy and said that the ruling party does not deserve this. “We need to perform the role of strong opposition in the province otherwise 100 million people of Punjab will continue to suffer,” Gilani said.
TARIQ TARAR-FORMER PPP CANDIDATE, NOW PTI’S:
With over 430,000 registered votes, the candidates who are eyeing to win this seat are Mumtaz Tarar of PML-N, Asif Bashir Bhagat of PPP, Tariq Tarar of PTI, Hamza Nasir of Pakistan Muslim League, Riaz Farooq Sahi of JI, Azam Gujjar of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Mahfouz Akram of Rah-i-Haq.
The NA-108 constituency fell vacant after the Supreme Court endorsed the decision of an election tribunal which dismissed Ijaz Chaudhry, who had been elected as an independent candidate in 2013 general elections. Chaudhry later joined PML-N but switched to PTI in 2014 during the sit-in protests.
In 2013 elections, Ijaz Chaudhry secured 85,009 votes, while Mumtaz Tarar bagged 73,789 and PTI nominee Zafarullah Tarar had secured 25,406 votes while Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Tariq Tarar had clinched 29,883 ballots. JI candidate Riaz Farooq Sahi had got 18,270 votes.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, PPP’s Nadeem Afzal Chan, who also hails from Mandi Bahauddin, alleged that the ruling party is misusing state machinery.
“They are the masters of winning the by-polls using the state machinery. We have witnessed it in the past as well,” said Chan.
According to political experts, PML-N’s candidate Mumtaz Tarar has a slight edge over PPP and PTI candidates for winning the by-polls and his position strengthened even more after Hamza Shahbaz Sharif’s visited and addressed a public gathering in the constituency on Friday.
The PML-N central leader said that the present leadership is resolving public problems speedily and its continuous success in by-polls proves that its popularity graph is rising. “As many as 10,000 megawatts electricity will be generated by 2018 and PML-N will make Pakistan an Asian Tiger,” Sharif had told the people of the constituency.
He said that after winning the by-polls from Nankana Sahib and Multan, PML-N will also emerge victorious in NA-108 by-polls.
JUI-F CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS, PTI IJAZ CHAUDHRY UNHAPPY:
Meanwhile, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam candidate Malik Iftikharul Hassan withdrew his nomination papers in favour of the PML-N candidate and assured that all his supporters will support PML-N. Former PPP provincial assembly member Tariq Mehmood also announced to join PML-N.
According to sources, former MNA Ijaz Chaudhry is unhappy with PTI leadership as his nephew Aadil Imtiaz Chaudhry was not awarded the ticket for by-polls.
“Ijaz Chaudhry, who has a lot of support in the constituency, is not supporting PTI’s candidate Tariq Tarrar in the campaign and in fact, he is silently supporting PML’s candidate Hamza Nasir Chaudhry, who is from the same Gujjar clan,” the sources revealed.
A neck and neck contest is expected amongst PTI, PPP and PML-N where all the three front-runners Tariq Tarar, Mumtaz Tarrar and Asif Bashir Bhagat belong to Phalia tehsil that was once considered a stronghold of PPP.
Tariq Tarar, the PTI candidate, had been affiliated with PPP for more than two decades and had won this seat in 2008 elections from PPP’s platform but he joined PTI in 2014. It is quite likely that both Tarar and Bhagat, having PPP backgrounds, will divide the voter, making the contest easier for Mumtaz Tarar.
Moreover, two political rivals, Women Development Minister Hameeda Waheeduddin and Dewan Mushtaq, a former MPA from Mandi Bahauddin who rejoined the ruling party before the by-polls are actively campaigning for Mumtaz Tarar who, according to sources, also enjoys support of Pir Buggay Shah Group of Mandi Bahauddin headed by Tehreem Abbas Naqvi alias Aali Shah who has a huge vote bank.
“The votes of Pir Buggay Shah Group will play a decisive role in this constituency,” the source added.
Talking to Pakistan Today, PML-N nominee Mumtaz Tarar said that he is hopeful that he will manage to clinch this seat.
“I belong to this constituency and after winning the elections I would solve all the major issues of the constituency on war footing,” said Tarar.
PPP candidate Asif Bashir Baghat is also popular amongst the masses for the development works he carried out in the last tenure of the PPP government.
“Bhagat started the construction of the Gujrat-Phalia road, upgraded 72 schools and installed water filtration plants in 2008 when he was elected from PP-117,” said Bilal Khan, one of the supporters of PPP.
Asif Bashir Bhagat told Pakistan Today that after winning this seat his first priority would be to complete the Gujrat-Phalia road which he was constructing but was stopped by the Punjab government. Bhagat added that he will also construct a university in Mandi Bahauddin, install water filtration plants and establish school for the girls of the area.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has printed more than 20,000 additional ballot paper as per its standard practice in every parliamentary election and got them transported to the district returning officer under Pakistan Army’s supervision.