GUJRAT: Veteran politician and PML-N MNA from Gujranwala Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk passed away on Friday in a Lahore hospital.

He left behind a son and a widow.

Born on Dec 25, 1937, Mr Virk was a senior legal practitioner who also served as a member of the federal cabinet twice.

He was elected to the National Assembly for five times during his electoral career and every time he was elected as a PML-N nominee.

Being considered a strong loyalist of PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he was first elected as MNA in 1997 elections and then lost in 2002, but since 2008 polls he consecutively won for four times.

Local PML-N sources said that Virk had once been elected as president of the Gujranwala District Bar Association. He also taught at a private law college in Gujranwala.

He was first elected as a union council chairman in 1962 local bodies elections.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2026