In today’s battle royale, there are 30 Punjab Assembly seats and 14 National Assembly seats up for grabs in Lahore district, which is often referred to as the heart of Punjab.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won eight of the provincial assembly and four of the National Assembly seats in the 2018 elections; whereas the PML-N won the remainder.
The race for NA-122 between Latif Khosa of the PTI and Khawaja Saad Rafique of the PML-N is anticipated to be fierce. Similarly, the Pakistan People’s Party’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been actively campaigning in NA-127 to win over anti-PML-N voters.
In this constituency, there is a big competition between him and Attaullah Tarar of the PML-N and PPP is anticipating an upset because Attaullah Tarar is considered a newcomer to electoral politics. In this constituency, Zaheer Abbas Khokhar is backed by PTI.
Abdul Aleem Khan of the IPP is contesting from NA-117, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif of PML-N NA-118, Maryam Nawaz NA-119, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq NA-120, Sheikh Rohail Asghar NA-121, Mian Shahbaz Sharif NA-123, Rana Mubashir Iqbal NA-124, Afzal Khokhar NA-125, Saiful Malook Khokhar NA-126, Hafiz Nauman NA-129, and Mian Nawaz Sharif NA-130.
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Likewise, Salman Akram Raja of the PTI is actively running for office in NA-128.
He is up against Aun Chaudhry, the joint candidate of PML-N and IPP. This constituency has been the strongest bastion of PTI in the past.
As far as provincial seats are concerned, the PPP’s candidate in PP-154, Sufyan Ghurki, is set to face off against Ghulam Habib Awan of the PML-N, whereas on PP-157, Naseer Ahmed of the PML-N and Hafiz Farhat Abbas of the PTI will go head-to-head in what is expected to be a fierce contest.
Similarly, Mian Mehmood-ul-Rashid of PTI and Khalid Parvez Khokhar of PML-N are competing in PP-169, which is also set to be a fierce contest. Likewise, in PP-171, Mehar Ishtiaq of the PML-N and Mian Aslam Iqbal of PTI will square off.
With regards to the election, Imtiaz Sheikh, former president of PTI Lahore, stated that the party is extremely powerful in Lahore.
Khawaja Imran Nazir, the General Secretary of the PML-N in Lahore, was of the view that Lahore had always shown love and loyalty to Mian Nawaz Sharif over the past 40 years.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th 2024.
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