Maryam files nomination papers for four seats

PML-N leader contesting from party strongholds -- PP-149, PP-173 and PP-158 from Lahore; PP-63 from Gujranwala

LAHORE:

PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday, perhaps putting her popularity to test and contesting elections for the first time as well as reportedly eyeing the coveted Punjab chief minister slot if her party manages to secure enough seats in the province, has filed nomination papers from four constituencies -- three from Lahore and one from Gujranwala -- for the upcoming provincial polls.

Maryam filed nomination papers from three Lahore constituencies, PP-149, PP-173 and PP-158. Besides Lahore, she has also filed her papers for one Gujranwala constituency, PP-63.

Strangely a week ago, she had bashed PTI chief Imran Khan for contesting elections from multiple constituencies in the recently held by-elections.

Addressing the PML-N Punjab youth district coordinators, Maryam had said if she were the prime minister, she would recover the expenses incurred in the elections of all the seats that Imran had won; reminding the PTI chief that polls were not held free of charge.

Her spokesperson, Zeeshan Malik, however clarified that the decision of where Maryam would contest elections from one of the four constituencies was yet to be made. When asked that the PML-N leader would contest for just one seat or more, Zeeshan said that decision rested with the party.

The seats chosen by Maryam are PML-N strongholds. The constituency of Lahore’s PP-149, which was earlier known as PP-153, was won by PML-N candidate Khawaja Imran Khan Nazir, who had bagged around 44,000 votes while the runner-up, a PTI candidate, had only obtained about 19,000 votes.
Similarly PP-158, previously known as PP-169, was won by PML-N's Akhtar Hussain Badshah, who had secured 31,000 votes. A PTI candidate had fetched only 13,000 votes in comparison.

The constituency of PP-173, previously known as PP-150, was won by PML-N's Bilal Yasin who had defeated the PTI candidate by around 16,000 votes. The constituency of PP-63, earlier known as PP-57, was won by PML-N’s Ashraf Ansari and that too by a considerable margin.

Former winning MPAs of two of these constituencies, Akhtar Hussainn Badshah and Asharaf Ansari, talking to The Express Tribune, said they were not informed about any decision on the matter by the party.

They said if the party decided that Maryam should contest the elections from their constituencies, they would honour its decision and run her polls campaign.

Former Punjab chief minister Hamza Shehbaz, who has only enjoyed the office for a very short period, too has filed nomination papers from three constituencies -- PP-146, PP-147, and PP-163.

Prime minister’s aide Attaullah Tarar has filed his papers from PP-158 and PP-163 (PP-158 is the one from where Maryam has filed her papers while PP-163 is the one from where Hamza is planning to contest the election).