CHAKWAL: PML-N is in a fix to award tickets in Chakwal and Talagang constituencies, as several influential politicians are vying for two National Assembly seats – NA-58 (Chakwal) and NA-59 (Talagang) – and four provincial assembly seats.

NA-58 is largely based in Chakwal district while NA-59 comprises newly created Talagang district and some areas of Chakwal and Kallar Kahar tehsils. Observers believe the creation of a new district significantly altered the political dynamics in the region, as fresh delimitations resulted in some areas of Chakwal being merged with NA-59. Similarly, some parts of Talagang district fell in PP-22 of Chakwal.

At present, four candidates are after the NA-58 (Chakwal) ticket whereas two contenders want to clinch the NA-59 seat in Talagang.

Sardar Ghulam Abbas, an influential politician who had switched multiple parties in the past, joined the PML-N in 2021 and is also vying for its ticket in NA-58. Political observers believe he has the biggest vote bank in Chakwal – independent of any political party – and his group grabbed 17 union councils out of 68 UCs in 2015 local government polls.

Four candidates interested in NA-58, two nominees vying for PML-N ticket in NA-59

Mr Abbas’s desire for the PML-N ticket brings him into conflict with party’s old guard in the district, particularly the family of late Abdul Majeed Malik, who had clinched the seat five times in the past, followed by his nephew retired major Tahir Iqbal who won elections in 2002 and 2013 on the PML-N ticket.

Besides, Tahir Iqbal, Dr Qaiser Majeed Malik – the son of retired Lt Gen. Abdul Majeed Malik – is also in the run for the NA-58 ticket. Sources, however, say Tahir Iqbal is willing to withdraw in favour of his cousin, Mr Majeed.

The personal vote bank of Tahir Iqbal and Qaiser Majeed is not more than 12,000 and they are banking on their long-time association with the PML-N to bag more votes, an insider tells Dawn. However, Mr Majeed – a former bureaucrat – has lobbied for himself very well, adds the PML-N source.

On the other hand, the significant vote bank of Sardar Ghulam Abbas makes it harder for the PML-N to deny him the opportunity to contest polls on its platform. As it is torn between a potential victor and loyalists, the PML-N is trying to find a middle way.

Sources tell Dawn that the PML-N may award Mr Abbas the ticket for NA-59, but it is unacceptable to Tammans of Talagang, who have already set their eyes on the NA-59 slot.

“…it will create more trouble for the PML-N, as NA-59 falls in Talagang district for which former MNA Sardar Mansoor Hayat Tamman and Sardar Shahroz Khan Tamman, the grandson of former MNA Sardar Mumtaz Tamman, have already applied. Although Sardar Ghulam Abbas has a considerable presence in Talagang, it would be difficult for him to carve out a space for himself in the native area of Tammans.”

“We have told Ghulam Abbas that we have always been contesting elections in NA-59…as it is our own constituency,” Shahroz Khan Tamman, who is vying for the ticket for his maiden political stint, tells Dawn.

On other hand, Ghulam Abbas is hopeful of his prospects. “I am sure that party would make a suitable decision, which I will respect,” he tells Dawn. On the other hand, Tahir Iqbal says he will be the “PML-N’s man in NA-58”.

In PP-20, Sultan Haider Ali and Qaisar Majeed have applied for the ticket, while in PP-21, former MPA Mehwish Sultana and former provincial minister Tanveer Aslam are vying for the ticket. In PP-22, Sardar Ghulam Abbas’s younger brother Sardar Sultan Mohammad and nephew Sardar Muhammad Khan, Ejaz Malik, and Amir Bhutta have applied for the ticket, while the party has only one candidate Malik Shehryar Awan for PP-23.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2023