- Tough contest expected as challenger Ahmad Chattha bags support of PTI, religious parties
- PML-N sticks to its de-seated candidate Justice (r) Iftikhar Cheema
The stage is set for another showdown between PML-N and PTI in Wazirabad where by-polls have been scheduled for March 22 (tomorrow). The NA-101 seat of the National Assembly fell vacant after PML-N’s Justice (r) Iftikhar Cheema was de-seated by the Supreme Court on the petition of Muhammad Ahmad Chattha, son of Hamid Nasir Chattha.
The Supreme Court, in its verdict, observed that Justice (r) Cheema did not declare the assets of his wife in a transparent way and ordered that re-polling be held in the constituency.
The stakes were raised for the ruling party after Hamid Nasir Chattha, who was elected MNA from the same constituency four times before losing the seat in 2008, announced that he was joining the Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) after meeting Imran Khan at Bani Gala. The PTI chairman has visited the constituency twice during the past week and addressed two large public gatherings; one in Ahmad Naggar Chattha, once considered the stronghold of Hamid Nasir Chattha, and the other in Wazirabad city.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), however, has decided to bet once again on Justice (r) Cheema despite the opposition of some of the party’s MPAs hailing from the Gujranwala district. The local leadership of PML-N wanted to move on from Cheema, but sources claim that the party leadership reposed its confidence in Cheema as his younger brother Zulfiqar cheema, former Regional Police Officer (RPO) Gujranwala and Inspector General (IG) Motorway, enjoys good relations with the central leadership of the party. The local chapter of the PML-N was invited to Lahore by the party’s leadership and was instructed to support Justice Cheema wholeheartedly. All the MNAs and MPAs of the district participated in that meeting and vowed to support Cheema.
THE ELECTION, A TOSS-UP:
Voters of the constituency, while they support one of the candidates, believe that this is going to be a tough election in the constituency and that either side can come out ahead on Tuesday.
In a survey conducted by Pakistan Today in the constituency, it was revealed that the challenger, Muhammad Ahmad Chatha could very well down the former victor, Justice Cheema, especially since Ahmad Chattha, whose Chattha tribe has a strong presence in the constituency has attracted new followers since his joining of the PTI.
Voters in the constituency said that Hamid Nasir Chattha is himself canvassing on behalf of his son. “I have lived my whole life in this constituency and have seen all the political campaigns of Hamid Nasir Chattha since 1985. He did not even run his own campaigns so passionately as he is doing,” said Malik Muhammad Shoaib, an active political worker in the constituency, while talking to Pakistan Today. He said that Chattha has his personal voter base of more than 50,000 in the constituency and that he can definitely defeat the ruling party this time as the vote bank of Imran Khan would also be added to his number.
Central leaders of PTI Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and Jahangir Khan Tareen have also participated in Chattha’s campaign. Both of them addressed a workers convention in Wazirabad a few days ago.
Hamid Nasir lost his 2008 election against Justice Iftikhar Cheema by 22,000 votes. After his defeat, he decided to bring his son into politics. In the 2013 elections, Justice Cheema defeated Ahmad Chattha for his second consecutive term, bagging 99,000 votes. Chattha was able to secure 59,000 votes in the election. PTI’s Shah Nawaz Cheema received 11,000 votes while Jamat-e-Islami’s Ubaidullah bagged 7,000 votes in the election. Former federal secretary for communications Sajid Hussain Chattha, contesting the election on the ticket of PML-Q, secured 13,000 votes at the time. PTI’s former candidate Shah Nawaz Cheema jumped over to PML-N after Hamid Nasir Chattha decided to join PTI. PML-Q’s former candidate Sajid Hussain Chattha has also joined PML-N and is campaigning fervently for its candidate. While these two developments may hurt the Chatthas come election day, their joining of the PTI as well as the support of Jamat-e-Islami, Pakistan Awami Tehreek, Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen and Sunni Tehreek may come through for them.
PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif also addressed a large public gathering in the constituency on Sunday.
The PPP is not visible anywhere on the political horizon of the constituency although it has won four elections in the constituency in 1970, 1977, 1988 and 1997. Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmad Cheema is the candidate for PPP this time around but his political activity has been almost non-existent. PPP’s Information Secretary Qmara Zaman Kaira and Nadeem Afzal Chann visited the constituency during the campaign and addressed a small gathering of a few hundred people, according to the voters.
CANDIDATES EXPRESS OPTIMISM:
Hamid Nasir Chattha won this constituency for the first time in 1985 after being launched in politics by former Punjab governor Lt General Ghulam Jilani in 1981 when the latter inducted the former in his cabinet. This was the same year when Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was also introduced in politics by the same governor Jilani when Sharif was made a minister in his cabinet.
Iftikhar Butt, a councilor of PML-N from the constituency told Pakistan Today that the Kashmiri clan of Wazirabad city is supporting PML-N while the Arayen clan is with Chattha. “No doubt Chattha is the only politician of the city who has his personal vote bank in huge numbers but he is facing a stiff challenge in the elections,” he said.
PML-N candidate Justice Cheema told Pakistan Today that he would complete his hat-trick by defeating Chattha on Tuesday.
“The people of Wazirabad love Nawaz Sharif and they will prove their allegiance with him by electing me once again,” he said. “I was not de-seated on the grounds of concealing my wife’s assets as it was a technical mistake,” he said, when asked if there will be a decline in his popularity after the decision of the Supreme Court.
The parliamentarians of PML-N from Siakot, Gujranwala, Hafizabad and Shiekhupura have run a rigorous campaign for Justice Cheema. Dr Nisar Ahmad Cheema, another brother of Justice Cheema, is also canvassing for him. Dr Nisar has served as Director General (DG) Health Punjab and also EDO Health Gujranwala and enjoys good personal relationships in the district because of his work there.
Muhammad Ahmad Chattha said that voters from other districts were called in to attend the public gathering of Hamza Shehbaz Sharif.
“The people were brought to the venue of the meeting in many buses from other cities on the expense of the tax-payers,” Chattha said, while talking to Pakistan Today. He further added that the proper functioning and up-lift of Wazirabad Institute of Cardiology would be on the list of his priorities after winning the polls. He said that he had worked in the constituency tirelessly over the last six years and had enhanced the vote bank of his father.
The troops of Pak Army would be deployed in and outside the polling stations to avoid any untoward incident. As many as 262 polling stations have been set up for 386,000 registered voters of NA-101.
