NA-149 elections: Dogar files nomination papers, leaves PPP

PPP had refused to give ticket to Amir Dogar.

MULTAN: Amir Dogar, a former Pakistan Peoples Party leader, filed nomination papers on Tuesday to contest the by-elections in NA-149 (Multan II).

Dogar, who has been the PPP south Punjab general secretary, filed the papers as an independent candidate after the party refused to back his bid to win the seat that fell vacant after Javed Hashmi’s resignation.

The Dogar family has been associated with the PPP for three decades.

Amir Dogar, a close associate of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, was not given the ticket by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during his recent visit to Multan.

Talking to reporters before filing his papers, Dogar announced that he had left the party. “I remain a worker of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. However, my party has now joined hands with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N),” he said.

Family sources confirmed that Dogar had recently met Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan with Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad. “He will join the PTI after winning the seat. In fact, he is the unofficial candidate of the PTI,” the sources said. Formerly, the PTI has announced a boycott of the election.

Ten other independent candidates have submitted their nomination papers as well.

Gilani had earlier told reporters he was were trying to convince Dogar not to join the PTI.

Meanwhile, Javed Hashmi said that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf could file a candidate against him.

“If they want to compete against me, they should openly nominate their candidate,” he said.

He also criticized Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Jehangir Tareen.

“In the future, Qureshi will control the PTI,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2014.