ISLAMABAD: The PPP announced on Friday the names of its candidates from south Punjab for 33 seats of the National Assembly and 72 of the Punjab legislature.

The list of candidates released by the Zardari House indicates that the PPP has recognised services of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani since his two sons and a brother have got the tickets. They will contest for National Assembly constituencies in Multan.

The former prime minister’s sons, Abdul Qadir Gilani and Ali Musa Gilani, were MNAs in the previous assembly, whereas his brother Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani was an MPA.

“The candidates were finalised after a series of meetings at the Zardari House. The sessions were also attended by Yousuf Raza Gilani,” said Nazir Dhoki, a member of the PPP’s media team.

He said the names of candidates from central Punjab would be announced in a couple of days as meetings were finalising them.

PPP leader Naveed Chaudhry told Dawn that the list of candidates from south Punjab had been finalised after a seat adjustment with the PML-Q. The PPP had not given tickets to its candidates in a number of constituencies where Q-League candidates were contesting elections, he added.

Former premier Gilani has introduced his younger brother Mujtaba Gilani from his own constituency (NA-152) because he cannot contest the election as a result of the Supreme Court order convicting him of contempt of court for not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Abdul Qadir Gilani is one of the accused in the 2011 Haj scandal case and Musa Gilani in the 2012 ephedrine (a chemical used in drugs manufacturing) quota scam case. According to sources, the PPP wants to get political mileage in south Punjab on the issue of a new province for which it moved a bill in parliament. It was passed by the Senate on March 6. However, the bill could not get through the National Assembly because it completed its five-year term on March 16.

Among the prominent PPP candidates from south Punjab includes former minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin who will contest for NA-194.

Sardar Saifuddin Khan Khosa, son of PML-N’s central leader Zulfiqar Khosa, has got PPP ticket for NA-173 DG Khan. It is expected that he will face his brother who may be a candidate of the N-League.

Sardar Bahadur Khan Sehar, who recently joined the PPP after quitting the PML-Q, will contest for NA-181 Layyah. His joining the PPP is said to be one of the main reasons for halting of talks on seat adjustment with the PML-Q, which later resumed on the intervention of President Zardari.

Former minister Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, who resigned after having been involved in a scandal, has succeeded in obtaining the PPP ticket for his own constituency NA-180 Layyah.

Former MNAs Malik Niaz Ahmed Khakkar and Moazzam Ali Khan Jatoi will contest for NA-182 and NA-179, respectively.

Mehmood Hayat Khan alias Toochi Khan was the youngest member in the outgoing National Assembly. He is PPP candidate for NA-170.

The following are the PPP candidates for NA seats in south Punjab: Syed Ali Musa Gilani NA-128, Malik Mohammad Amir Dogar NA-149, Nafees Ahmed Ansari NA-150, Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani NA-151, Syed Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani NA-152, Rana Mohammad Qasim Noon NA-53, Rana Mohammad Faraz Noon NA-154, Pir Haider Zaman Qureshi NA-158, Capt Syed Iqbal Gill NA-159, Ehsan Ellahi Cheema NA-167, Ms Natasha Daultana NA-168, Mehmood Hayat Khan alias Toochi Khan NA-170, Sardar Saifuddin Khan Khosa NA-173, Khawaja Kaleemudin Koreja NA-174, Sardar Jehanzeb Khan Dareshak NA-175, Dr Mian Mohammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi NA-176, Malik Ghulam Rabbani Khar NA-177, Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmed Khan NA-178, Moazzam Ali Khan Jatoi NA-179, Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi NA-180, Sardar Bahadur Khan Sehar NA-181, Malik Niaz Ahmed Jhakkar NA-182, Khadija Amir Warran NA-184, Sahibzada Munwar Hayat Abbasi NA-185, Dr Akhtar Ali Lalika NA-189, Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal NA-190, Dr Ch Mazhar Iqbal NA-191, Khawaja Ghulam Rasool Koreja NA-192, Mian Abdul Sattar NA-193, Makhdoom Shahabuddin NA-194, Makhdoom Syed Mustafa Mehmood NA-195, Javed Iqbal Warraich NA-196 and Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mehmood NA-197.