NA-127 by-elections: PML-N sure of victory

By Qamar Jabbar

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has formulated a comprehensive strategy to win the by-election from NA-127, which is being vacated by Dr Tahirul Qadri, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief.

The PML-N has decided to appoint lawyers as polling agents at all the stations to supervise the electoral process and to avoid rigging during elections, sources told Daily Times on Thursday.

Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan and Saba Sadique have been appointed as chief supervisors for the male and female polling booths. Before polling day, the PML-N lawyer’s wing will file an application with Chaudhry Khaliqueuz Zaman, the returning officer, to ensure that the presiding officers issue an attested copy of the result to the polling agents before they submit it to the elections commission.

The total number of registered voters in NA-127 is 237,138, out of which 129,892 are men and 107,246 women. Thousands of Christian voters are also part of this constituency and could play a decisive role in determining the winner.

In the 2002 general elections, Qari Muhammad Zawar Bahadar of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Dr Muhammad Tahirul Qadri of the PAT, Dr Usman Malik of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Prof Mian Ijazul Hassan of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP), Abdul Aleem Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) and Chaudhry Naseer Ahmed Bhutta of the PML-N contested the NA-127 by-elections. However, in the by-elections scheduled for February 27, Naseer Ahmad Bhutta of the PML-N and Farooq Amjad Mir of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) are the main contesters.

The Christian community of Youhanabad announced their support for the PML-N candidate because Nawaz Sharif resolved a lot of their problems during his tenure as prime minister.

“We are sure that if the elections are not rigged then we will win with a thumping majority,” Bhutta told Daily Times. He said that in 2002, he would have won the elections but lost because the voters were divided amongst the PPPP and MMA candidates. “This time, I am the ARD and MMA’s joint candidate and have the support of the majority,” he said.

Mir said that he was hoping to win the elections because he had done much for the development of the city as the Lahore naib nazim. “After Eid, we will start a door-to-door campaign and hold public meetings in the constituency,” he added.

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