SAHIWAL: The NA-143 constituency witnesses an intriguing clash as two former PML-N parliamentarians, Tufail Jutt and Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal, Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) candidate Nauman Langrial, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) backed candidate Rai Hasan Nawaz are in the field.

The presence of two PML-N leaders in the field challenges the perception of a seat adjustment between the IPP and the PML-N. Political observers say that the PML-N has indirectly left the constituency open.

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The PPP has no candidate for NA-143, and its leader in the area, Shahzad Saeed Cheema, is contesting as MPA on a PPP ticket. Observers speculate that the absence of the PPP and the PML-N’s indecisiveness may benefit PTI’s Rai in winning the seat.

Mr Jutt served as tehsil nazim of Chichawatni in 2001 and 2005 after parting ways with the Rai brothers. He was elected as a PML-N MNA in 2016 in a by-election for NA-162 (now NA-143) but lost the general elections in 2018 as PML-N candidate against Rai Murtaza Iqbal by a margin of 25,000 votes. Mr Jutt faced another defeat in a 2018 by-election for PP-201 against Pir Samsam Bukhari.

Denied a PML-N ticket due to IPP-PML-N seat adjustment arrangements, Mr Jutt is now contesting the election under the Ittehad Group, forming an alliance with Adil Saeed Gujar, who was denied a PTI ticket for PP-203.

Zahid Iqbal, initially elected as a PPP MNA in the 2008 election from NA-162, was deseated in 2012 for holding dual citizenship. He joined the PML-N in 2013 and is now contesting elections for NA-143 and PP-203 under his political group named “Aman Group”.

The Rais of Chichawatni – Rai Hasan Nawaz, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, and retired Maj Ghulam Sarwar – who did not abandon PTI, are contesting the election for NA-143, PP-203, and PP-204. Many believe that the division in the PML-N leadership will pave the way for the PTI to win the NA-143 seat, as this is the only seat the PTI won from Sahiwal district in the 2013 and 2018 elections.

NA-143, Sahiwal III, is the largest constituency with 584,698 registered voters in the Sahiwal district.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024