GUJRAT: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is going to hold a `major’ political event which will be addressed by part’s chief organiser Maryam Nawaz in the Jalalpur Jattan town of on Dec 9 (Saturday) to dispel the impression that the PML-N will make a seat adjustment in NA-63.

The Chaudhrys of the PML-Q and Nawabzada family of the PML-N have been the traditional rivals in NA-63 (Jalalpur Jattan-Tanda) since decades and the local party cadres have deep reservations over reports of a possible seat adjustment between the Q and N in both the national and at least four Punjab Assembly seats of Gujrat tehsil.

Ex-MNA Abid Raza Kotla, who is party’s Gujranwala division president, told Dawn that the party is not going to make a seat adjustment with the Q in NA-63 and its PA seats – PP 29 (Tanda-Karianwala) and PP 30 (Jalalpur Jattan) – as Nawabzada Ghaznafar Ali Gul will be a party nominee for the seat whereas candidates for both PA seats are being finalised.

Party plans Maryam’s show in the area tomorrow

However, he said that NA-64 (Gujrat-Kunjah) and one of its two PA seats may be given to Q’s former federal minister Salik Hussain and his elder brother Shafay Hussain, respectively, whereas one of the PA seats will go to the PML-N nominee in party’s so far internal deliberations.

Kotla said PML-N’s senior vice president Maryam Nawaz will address party’s convention at Jalalpur Jattan stadium on Dec 9 where a huge proportion of the participants will be the youth and the party’s senior leader would make certain announcements in the wake of party’s future course of action in Gujrat.

The Gujrat chapter of PML-N and all the aspirants of the party tickets from across the district have been making hectic efforts to bring a large number of people to Jalalpur Jattan.

Ex-MPA Nawabzada Haider Mehdi, PML-N candidate from PP 29, said that the party had chosen the Jalalpur Jattan town for a power show to dispel reports of seat adjustment in that particular constituency.

Gujrat PML N’s coordinator for youth Ali Warraich of Kula Chor who is aspirant for party ticket for PP-30, has invited Maryam Nawaz for the youth convention in Jalalpur Jattan and he has been actively making arrangements in this regard.

Former federal minister Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and his son ex-MNA Chaudhry Hussain Elahi of the PML-Q had won the NA-63 thrice in (2002 and 2008) and 2018 respectively whereas their traditional rivals Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul and his elder brother Nawabzada Mazhar Ali Khan had won the seat in 1993 and 2013, respectively.

Sources said the PML-Q has demanded the NA-63 and its both PA seats in a seat adjustment with the PML-N for the Feb 8 elections and the former federal minister Wajahat Hussain too was present at the meeting between Mian Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in Lahore residence of Q chief on Wednesday.

Adding, they said that the Q had managed to get the NA-63 and its both PA seats in a seat adjustment with the PPP in 2013 and with the PTI in 2018. However, this time round the chances of such an arrangement with the PML-N seems to be difficult as the PML-N leadership is of the view that Hussain Elahi did not vote in favour of the no-confidence motion against the PTI’s prime minister Imran Khan nor he had voted in favour of PDM’s candidate for PM Shehbaz Sharif unlike his cousin Salik Hussain and another party leader Tariq Basheer Cheema of the PML-Q.

On the other hand, both Wajahat Hussain and his son Hussain Elahi have also been giving impression in their local interactions with the media and the supporters that they are not interested in any seat adjustment with the PML-N.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2023