GUJRAT: The ruling PML-N may not pitch its stalwart Haji Nasir Mahmood as candidate for the slot of mayor of Gujrat Municipal Corporation due to a number of controversies involving him.

Sources have told Dawn the name of Mahmood, the UC-3 chairman and district secretary general of the PML-N, is no more among the list of the probable candidates as now the names of newly-elected chairmen from different urban union councils of the city, such as Muhammad Yousaf Gull, Ashraf Rehania and Chaudhry Asif Raza Mehmda from the PML-N’s eight elected chairmen out of total 12 UCs have been suggested to the party high command.

The sources say that Nasir Mahmood’s conviction in the fake degree case as well as registration of a recent case against him under the Drugs Act for forcibly unsealing a pharma company’s warehouse which was sealed by the health authorities are the reasons for the party’s decision to sideline him.

Gull, Rehania likely candidates for Gujrat MC

Besides these allegations, the sword of disqualification still looming over his head and some other solid complaints against him regarding the financial affairs have compelled the PML-N senior leadership to exclude his name from the candidates as he had earlier been tipped as the front runner in the race.

A well-placed official source says the Punjab government has sought the report from the concerned agencies and quarters concerned on the personal reputation of aforementioned three members of the Gujrat MC to finalise the name of candidate for the mayor’s slot.

The report would be presented to none other than Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif who was the head of the ruling party’s ticket awarding board for the offices of chairman/mayor and deputies for the district councils and municipalities across the province.

Haji Nasir Mahmood, was disqualified by the court over fake graduation degree in Feb 2010 whereas a case had been lodged against him by the election commission upon which the trial court had sentenced him for a year and a half on three different counts.

In the recently held local bodies elections, Umar Sajid, a rival candidate of the PML-Q from UC-3, had challenged the nomination papers of Mahmood for being a convict and possessing a fake graduation degree but the returning office and the appellant additional district and sessions judge accepted the papers.

However, Sajid’s appeal in the Lahore High Court was accepted and Mahmood was barred from contesting the elections but the LHC’s decision was suspended by the Supreme Court, temporarily allowing the latter to contest the election just a day ahead of the local government elections. The hearing of the case is still going on in the apex court.

Sources in the PM- N think that Ashraf Rehania does have the support of Gujrat District Coordination Officer Liaqat Ali Chatha due to whose friendship and efforts Mr Rehania had switched his loyalties to the ruling party a few months ago after breaking decade-old affiliation with the PML-Q in local politics but his belonging to the Gujjar clan, which would be given the district council chairman slot, could prove a setback for him.

Yousaf Gull, belonging to the Kashmiri clan, is also among serious contenders for the slot. He holds a vast experience in local bodies politics of Gujrat city besides having support of senior party leaders such as Chaudhry Ahmed Saeed, sources say.

They think that in case of denial of party ticket to Mahmood for mayor’s slot, he too could extend support to Gull who was elected as member of Gujrat MC for several times since 1983 from the platform of Ahmed Saeed’s Servis Group.

The ruling party may pitch the pair of Gull and Rehania for the slots of mayor and deputy mayor of the Gujrat MC.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play