The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has opted for a cautious strategy in Lahore, awarding its NA-129 ticket to last year's runner-up, while simultaneously taking a leap of faith in Wazirabad by fielding Bilal Tarar – the brother of Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar – a relative outsider to the constituency, in hopes of carving out a new party stronghold.
The party has also announced its candidate for PP-87 Mianwali.
Meanwhile, coalition partner PPP remains on the fence over whether to contest at all. Any decision will be subject to the outcome of consultation with PML-N, according to the secretary general of the party.
On the other hand, although Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has officially declared a boycott, some within the party's ranks are urging the party's incarcerated founder, Imran Khan, to reconsider the decision.
In Lahore's NA-129, the PML-N ticket has been handed to Mian Muhammad Nouman, who finished second in the 2024 general election.
A hot contest is expected as PTI's Hamad Azhar, son of the late MNA Mian Azhar, has entered the ring and will fight for this seat under the PTI banner, as it does not fall within the constituencies the party has chosen to abandon.
The late Mian Azhar had captured the seat last year with over 103,000 votes, defeating Nouman by a margin of 32,000 votes, with Nouman securing just over 71,000.
Initially, PM's Youth Council Chairman Rana Mashhood was said to be in the running for the ticket, but last-minute consultations within the Sharif family, and a meeting between Khawaja Saad Rafique and the prime minister, brought the verdict in Nouman's favour.
In Mianwali's PP-87, the PML-N ticket has gone to Ali Haider Noor Khan Niazi, who was also the party nominee in 2018. He had boycotted the eventually rescheduled poll in protest, alleging rigging in the general elections.
In 2024, the ticket went instead to PTI defector Inamullah Khan Niazi, a relative of Imran Khan, who lost by a whopping 95,000-vote margin to PTI's Ahmad Khan Bachar.
Niazi, following his protest over being denied a party ticket in 2024, broke ranks to form his own panel and ran as an independent candidate from NA-90 (Mianwali), only to be trounced by a staggering margin of approximately 150,000 votes.
However, despite going rogue in 2024, Ali Noor reportedly retained cordial ties with PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan, who is believed to have played a decisive role in securing him this ticket.
Notably, Rana Sanaullah, having himself lost his traditional stronghold seat in Faisalabad to the PTI, has now been compensated with a party nomination for a Senate seat from Punjab.
While the PML-N reorganises its strategy, the PPP remains at sea. Party secretary-general Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said PPP would consult with its allies, particularly the PML-N, before making a final decision.
The ultimate decision of whether PPP will field its candidates or not would be taken within the party, he said, adding that applications had been invited and a verdict would come soon.
Speculation continues to swirl in Punjab that the PPP may opt out, a move observers say could torpedo its already frail efforts to make inroads into the province, particularly if PTI is absent from the field.
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