Modern historians have designated Jhelum as the site of the famous battle between Alexander the Great and the Indian king, Raja Porus. Present day Jhelum district – comprising the tehsils of Jhelum, Sohawa, Pind Dadan Khan and Dina – has not left its tradition of wars far behind. Like other districts of northern Punjab, it too serves as a recruiting ground for the armed forces. The late General Asif Nawaz Janjua, former chief of the army staff, hailed from this district. The Janjua, Jat, Rajput and Khokhar clans play an important role in the electoral politics of the district.



Constituencies:

NA62:

The constituency promises a tough contest between the PMLQ and the PMLN. In 2002, former federal minister and the PMLQ candidate, Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, won this seat. In February, Raja Mohammad Safdar of the PMLN will be his main challenger. Hussain had defeated Safdar in the 2002 election by 20,000 votes. But the situation has changed since then as many local influential personages have joined the PMLN in recent days. Safdar is the son of Raja Mohammad Afzal who had won this constituency continuously between 1985 and 1997. PPP’s current candidate Sohail Zafar managed to secure only 15,000 votes in 2002.




NA63:

PMLN’s Raja Mohammad Asad, who had trounced his rivals in 2002, will this time face the PMLQ’s Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain and the PPP’s Ali Zaman Janjua. Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain is the brother of a former Punjab governor, Chaudhry Iltaf Hussain, and of the outgoing chief justice of the Lahore High Court, Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry. Janjua is the son of a retired military general. Though political analysts predict a three-way fight because all three parties bagged sizeable votes in 2002, this time around some of Jhelum city’s heavyweights have thrown their support behind Nawaz Sharif. The Rajputs, Mughal and Khokhars are some of the important clans that play a decisive role in Jhelum city politics.

Interestingly enough in 2002, this was perhaps the only constituency in central and northern Punjab where the PPPSB had fielded a candidate, Dr Ghulam Hussain. He polled 11,000 votes. Dr Ghulam Hussain was a one-time secretary general of the PPP and had been a member of the National Assembly from this area more than once.