GUJRAT: The PML-Q has formally announced to support Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ali Asjad Malhi in the by-polls for NA-75 (Daska) Sialkot.

Sources said that the PTI leadership had requested PML-Q Punjab chief Chaudhry Parvez Elahi to support the party following which PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had approved the decision to back Mr Malhi.

The PML-Q has a sizable vote bank in NA-75 -- comprising Daska city and its surrounding rural areas, and the party’s provincial minister, Bao Rizwan, had also won a Punjab Assembly seat from Daska city in the last general elections.

MNA Chaudhry Moonis Elahi told Dawn that the local party cadre in Daska and Sialkot had been issued directions to campaign for the PTI candidate, adding that his party would make all-out efforts for the victory of Mr Malhi in the by-polls.

In return, ‘Q’ to support ruling party candidate in NA-75

He also confirmed that the PTI had agreed to support PML-Q nominee Kamil Ali Agha in the upcoming Senate elections from Punjab.

The NA-75 seat fell vacant after the death of PML-N MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan alias Zahry Shah last year.The party has fielded the deceased lawmaker’s daughter, Nosheen Iftikhar, as its candidate for the Feb 19 by-polls.

The PPP had earlier announced its support for the PML-N candidate, whereas the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan’s Chaudhry Khalil and six independents were also in the run.

Meanwhile, “No vote without road” has become a popular slogan among the residents of dozens of villages located along the Wazirabad-Daska road as authorities initiated patchwork to fill the ditches on the road in a bid to pacify the locals.

The 25-kilometre road connecting the two industrial towns has been in a dilapidated condition for over three years.The by-polls in NA-75 (Daska) and PP-51 (Wazirabad) have provided an opportunity to the people of these towns as well as of the surrounding rural areas to press for reconstruction of the road.

However, the locals rejected, what they called, this “temporary arrangement” that can erode even with light rain or the passage of light traffic. They have demanded a permanent solution to the years-long issue.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2021