RAWALPINDI: Disgruntled senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has begun visiting parts of NA-52 to woo voters, in light of the possible delimitation of his National Assembly constituency, according to a report by a private media outlet.
The former interior minister, who has been at odds with party head Nawaz Sharif over the latter’s anti-judiciary and anti-establishment tirade, opted not to join the current cabinet of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi after Mr Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in the Panama case.
Since then Chaudhry Nisar has been busy meeting voters and union council chairmen in a bid to consolidate chances of his victory in the next elections. Though Chaudhry Nisar did not remain in direct contact with voters in the past, his secretaries ran the day-to-day affairs of his constituencies in Rawalpindi and Taxila.
But the recent political development has forced him to make direct contact with the voters. During his visit to Adiala Road and adjoining areas last week, he spoke about his development projects in parts of the constituency which may be merged with NA-55 or NA-56 under the new delimitation.
As per the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a National Assembly constituency will consist of a maximum population of 780,000. As the population of NA-55 crossed the figure of one million in the 2017 census, parts of it would be added to the two adjoining constituencies – NA-55 consisting of Raja Bazaar and adjoining areas and NA-56 stretching from Faizabad to Chandni Chowk.
The ECP has started the process of delimitation on the basis of the provisional report of the census 2017.
