PML-N eyes clean sweep in Punjab cantts

The ruling party also hopes to make inroads in K-P

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is confident it will not only succeed in getting majority in cantonment boards of Punjab but will also make significant headways in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the upcoming local government polls in cantonment areas of the country.

According to some top PML-N officials, the party has finalised its strategy to win the LG polls at 20 cantonment boards of Punjab, where election will be held on April 25.

The PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz Sharif is head of the party’s cell which is overseeing the LG elections at cantonment areas in the province. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has assigned Hamza-led team the task to ensure that the ruling PML-N makes a clean sweep in all cantonment areas of Punjab.  Hamza Shahbaz before issuing party tickets to candidates at the 20 cantonment boards discussed their credentials with the MNAs, federal and provincial ministers and counter-checked their input from the reports of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Special Branch.

The IB’s Joint Directorate General as well as Special Branch’s additional IG have been directed to work with the PML-N’s political cell. The cell is actively taking the IB’s and Special Branch’s inputs about the party candidates as well as the day to day mood of the voters at the cantonment boards.

Sources said reports of both the agencies say that the PML-N is in a position to defeat the PTI as the ruling party’s popularity has increased due to a number of factors including its election campaign, the PM’s recent visits to various districts and announcements of various projects by Punjab and federal governments including China-Pakistan economic corridor.

Both the IB and Special Branch have also worked hard in the cantonment areas in boosting the PML-N’s image by highlighting government’s achievements and development plans.

The PML-N’s federal ministers – Sheikh Aftab, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Baleeghur Rehman – are also campaigning for the party as cantonment areas fall in their major constituencies.

Strategy in the K-P

The PM has assigned the task of winning the LG polls in K-P’s cantonment areas to four members of the party and the K-P Governor Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi has set up a cell at the K-P Governor House, where he is assisted by Adviser to PM Amir Muqam and Pir Sabir Shah.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2015.