GUJRAT: Veteran parliamentarian and senior PPP leader Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan has participated in the election-related political activity in his native Mungowal area of Gujrat after more than four decades.

Aitzaz spent two busy days in the area, campaigning for the PPP central leader and former federal information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira.

He addressed a public meeting in Mungowal where the party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was the chief speaker on Thursday and then attended corner meetings on Friday, seeking votes for Mr Kaira.

Mr Ahsan who had launched his parliamentary career by winning a Punjab Assembly seat from Kunjah-Mungowal areas in a by-election after 1970 polls by defeating Chaudhry Tajamal Hussain.

He won that seat again as a PPP nominee against Chaudhry Shjaat Hussain.

Mr Kaira is a PPP candidate from NA-65 (Lalamusa-Dinga-Mungowal).

Local party sources says that as Mungowal and some of its surrounding rural union councils have been included in this constituency for the first time in the fresh delimitation, Mr Kaira managed to convince Aitzaz to campaign for the PPP candidates in the area being a native.

Aitzaz’s father Chaudhry Ahsan and grandfather Chaudhry Bahawal Bukhsh would also contest elections from this area even before the creation of Pakistan.

Aitzaz, however, did not contest the 1985 non-party elections from his Gujrat seat, which was then clinched by Chaudhry Parvez Elahi who has never lost that seat since then.

He then contest the 1988 elections from Lahore as per the wish of party chairperson late Benazir Bhutto and did not contest from Gujrat. Former federal minister late Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar did the electoral politics in that area against the Chaudhrys for at least 25 years before he retired from the politics due to health issues around 10 years ago.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2024

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