Multan by-polls: Hashmi vs Dogar

Profiles of the two contesting independent candidates

As counting for the by-polls in NA-149 Multan II constituency begins, read our profile of the two top independent candidates battling for the seat -- Javed Hashmi and Amir Dogar.

Javed Hashmi



Seasoned politician and veteran leader Javed Hashmi has been a controversial figure in Pakistani politics who switched allegiance from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf before stepping down as the latter's president last month and is once again said to being backed by the PML-N in the NA-149 by-polls.

Hashmi had a fallout with the PTI over their decision to march to the Prime Minister House in the Red Zone area of Islamabad to overthrow the incumbent Nawaz-led government in August.

A topic of much controversy, Hashmi has since openly spoken against PTI leaders and went as far as alleging that PTI’s campaign was ‘scripted’ by a third party.

Hashmi contested elections from a PTI seat during the general elections in May 2013 and was elected a Minister of the National Assembly from the NA-149, Multan II constituency.

However, he resigned from this seat following the PTI’s decision to resign from the NA as part of their campaign leading to the vacancy of the seat.

As a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party at the time, Shah Mehmood Qureshi was defeated during the 1997 general elections by Hashmi, who at the time was part of the PML-N.

However, in the subsequent elections to the National Assembly from Multan in 2002 and 2008, Qureshi beat Hashmi. In the 2008 elections, Hashmi won a record three seats out of four; he only lost out to Qureshi in his home city of Multan.

Amir Dogar



Amir Dogar, a former Pakistan Peoples Party leader, is the second popular candidate of choice in the NA-149, by-elections.

Dogar, who has served as the PPP South Punjab general secretary, filed papers as an independent candidate after the PPP refused to back his bid to win the seat which fell vacant after Hashmi’s resignation.

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

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

The PTI is being said to have thrown its weight behind Dogar in his election battle against Hashmi.