GUJRAT: Eighteen candidates have filed nomination papers for the by-polls in NA-77 Gujranwala scheduled to be held on Nov 8.

The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PML-N MNA Chaudhry Mehmood Basheer Virk in September.

Gujranwala Additional Deputy Commissioner Sumaira Ambreen is the returning officer (RO) for the constituency.

Rashid Basheer Virk, son of the deceased MNA, is also among the candidates who have filed the nomination papers. As per the sources in PML-N, Rashid is being tipped as the party nominee for the by-election since the party would often give priority to a close kin of the deceased lawmakers. However, a former PML-N MPA from Gujranwala, Ashraf Warraich, has also filed his nomination papers.

Rashida Tariq, the wife of former MNA Tariq Gujjar, has also submitted her nomination papers. She had contested the 2024 election as a PTI-backed independent candidate and was the runner-up against Mehmood Basheer Virk. The PTI has been opting to boycott the by-election for the last one year and Tariq Gujjar’s family is still in the PTI. Local sources said that contesting the by-poll by such a candidate with the claim of the PTI backing could be a tough task.

Tariq was elected as an MNA on the PML-N ticket in the 2013 general election but in the 2018 election, the party did not award him the ticket. He later joined the PTI.

Senior lawyer Manzoor Qadir Bhinder, Rashid Hussain, Usman Yousaf, Ibrahim Gujjar, Haq Nawaz Hunjra, the secretary of Gujranwala DBA, Mirza Tariq Mehmood, Chaudhry Khadim Hussain, Mudassar Latif, Tayyab Mehmood, Ulfat Rasool Warraich, Muhammad Arif, Shafqat Rasool, Usman Talib Chatha and Muhammad Ishaq have also submitted their nomination papers for the by-election.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026