The seismic shift that saw a major rift emerge within the traditionally inseparable house of the Chaudharys of Gujrat may have had its roots in the April 2022 vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan’s government, but its aftershocks are reverberating through the electoral landscape.

The Chaudharys have wielded an unmatched influence on central Punjab’s politics since the 1980s, having deep connections with other Punjabi political families, judges, the business elite, bureaucracy and the army — one of the main reasons they have long been considered ‘kingmakers’.

But the historically united family now faces a unique prospect; family members going head-to-head in the polls, albeit under the banners of different political parties.

The iconic pairing of Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain and his cousin Parvez Elahi has enjoyed some of the top offices of the land — the former having been prime minister and the latter holding the coveted office of Punjab chief minister twice.

After decades of unity, one of the most influential political families of central Punjab has fallen victim to infighting.

But now, the family’s third generation — Zahoor Elahi’s grandchildren — seems to have lost the unity that was their strength, getting embroiled in a tug of war that has spilled over from the political to the personal realm: various family groups are now engaged in a legal battle over the possession of Zahoor Elahi House, the family’s ancestral home in Gujrat city.

But to understand the history of this political powerhouse of yore, it is essential to look back at the political legacy carved out by the two elder statesmen, Shujaat and Parvez.

Rise of the Chaudhary clan

Our story begins after the 1985 elections. Although Nawaz Sharif had the backing of the Zia-installed Governor Ghulam Jilani Khan for the job of Punjab chief minister, he might not have been elected to that office if the Chaudharys hadn’t come to his aid against another aspirant — Makhdoom Hassan Mahmood — who represented the rural elite against his businessman opponent.

This brought the Chaudharys very close to the Sharifs, and their proximity only became heightened following Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan.

During the 1990 election, the Sharifs promised to make Parvez chief minister of Punjab, but later reneged on the commitment once their government was formed. Ghulam Hyder Wyne was given preference and made chief minister.

Then, during the 1997 polls, Parvez was promi­s­­ed the office again, only to have the rug pulled out from under his feet by She­­hbaz Sharif, who was installed to rule over Pun­jab. Parvez was elected speaker of the provincial assembly, but although the Chaud­harys had realised by now that the Sharifs didn’t quite trust them, the Guj­rat natives chose not to quit the party just yet.

This sowed the seeds of the distrust that led to the events of 1999, and it was only after the military coup that they got an opportunity to settle scores with the Sharifs.

When Kulsoom Nawaz went to Nawabzada Nasr­ullah Khan with a request on behalf of the PML-N to join the ARD in 2000, it was the Chaudharys who opposed the move.

However, this didn’t stop Kulsoom from joining the ARD to get her husband, sons and other family members out of jail, and then, out of the country.

In fact, when she lau­nched a street agitation against Gen Mushar­raf, the Chaudharys were there to oppose her and practically disassociated themselves from the party.

By then, the military ruler had managed to create a new party — the PML-Q — from within the Nawaz league with the help of Mian Azhar. Once the Sharifs went into exile, the Chaudharys also joined the Q-league.

It didn’t take long for them to take over the new ‘King’s Party’, after ‘uninstalling’ Mian Azhar and replacing him with their own hardware and software, so to speak.

They then used their political influence to pry several other PML-N stalwarts away from the Sharif fold and led this new Frankenstein’s monster to victory in the 2002 polls.

Now, Parvez could fi­­nally fulfill his dream of becoming the chief minister of Punjab. Under Mu­­sharraf, the Chaud­harys enjoyed unparalleled power and support from the military. They chose Zafarullah Khan Jamali as their prime ministerial candidate and helped get him elected with a single vote-majority.

But their political fortunes were shaken when Musharraf sent packing his chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, lighting the fire of the Lawyers’ Move­ment that would eventually prove to be the military ruler’s undoing.

For their part, the Chaudharys claimed they were against this. They also vocally opposed the Lal Masjid operation and the move to reconcile with Benazir Bhutto to pave the way for her return to the country. However, there was little they could do to prevent all these things from coming to pass.

When Benazir was assassinated in December 2007, the PPP pointed the finger at Parvez Elahi, Gen Musharraf and then-Intelligence Bureau chief Ijaz Shah. A few years la­­t­er, however, the family pr­­oved its maneuvering mettle after they managed to coax the grieving widower Asif Ali Zardari into an alliance after the PML-N left his party high and dry in 2012, paving the way for Parvez to bec­ome deputy prime minister.

Electoral contests

Fast forward to present day, and the family stands more divided than ever before, simply on the basis that one faction supports Imran Khan and the other doesn’t.

On Imran’s side are PTI president Parvez, his wife Qaisera and son Moonis, who had filed nomination papers for NA-64 (Gujrat City-Kunjah) — a traditional safe seat that the family has never lost since 1985 — and its allied provincial assembly seats of PP-31 and 32.

On the other side, we have Shafay Hussain, Cha­u­dhary Shujaat’s elder son, who has also filed pa­­p­­ers from PP-32, while Sa­­lik Hussain is a candidate from PP-31.

Parvez, Moonis and Qaisera also gambled by filing nominations for NA-69 (Mandi Bahaud­din), but since their papers have been rejected, we are unlikely to see Chaud­h­ary Vs Chaudhary on any of these constituencies.

At the time of the no confidence move, Chau­dhary Wajahat Hussain and his sons had joined the PTI camp alongside Parvez Elahi. PML-Q MNA Chaudhary Hussain Elahi and Musa Elahi, the candidate from NA-62 (Sarai Alamgir) also followed their father.

However, Wajahat and both his sons later rejoined PML-Q following the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly in January 2023.

Wajahat had earlier quit electoral politics in 2018 to focus on building the political careers of his sons, introducing Musa as a contender against the PML-N’s Kotla group.

This, then, marks this side of the family’s first electoral foray outside the confines of Gujrat-proper, bringing them into contention for NA-62 and PP-34.

Earlier, Parvez and Mo­­onis had done the same, contesting from Mandi Bahauddin, Chakwal, Attock, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawal­pur in past polls. They even managed to develop a strong footing in the constituencies of Mandi Bahauddin and Chakwal — no mean feat for ‘outsiders’ in biradari-dominated Punjab.

But Parvez has now fie­l­ded Rehana Abbas Gondal — his sister-in-law/cousin who is also a relative of Chaudhary Shujaat — as the PTI nominee from NA-64. Her daughter, Zahra Ikhlas, is the party’s candidate from PP-32.

The fresh delimitation has attached almost half of the areas under Kun­jah’s PA seat with nearby PP-34 (Dinga), where Shu­jaat’s sister Sumaira Elahi Chohan has been nomin­a­ted by the PTI to go up ag­­ainst Mian Tariq Meh­mood Dinga of the PML N.

In NA-63 (Jalalpur Jat­tan-Tanda), former MNA Chaudhary Hussain Elahi is running on a PML-Q ti­­cket, where he faces many challengers, such as traditional rival Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul of the PML-N and Sajid Yousaf Channi, who has been propped up by the PTI.

Infighting and property disputes

The sons of the Q-league chief have recently purchased a house along the old GT Road in the city, after there were serious issues regarding the use and control of Zahoor Elahi House, which is the family’s shared property.

The newly-purchased home is being renovated as it was an old construction, located right in front of a shoe mill, owned by the Servis family of former federal minister, the late Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, who was once a staunch political rival of the Chaudharys in Gujrat.

Moonis Elahi had alrea­­dy built a separate house in Kunjah, and Wajahat and his sons have at least four different homes, such as Nutt House in their nat­ive village and Hussain House in Marri Khokharan.

Musa Elahi owns two houses in Kotla and Sarai Alamgir, whereas former Gujrat district Nazim Cha­u­dhary Shafaat Hus­sain had built his own hou­se near the Rasul headworks.

Salik and Shafay have established their election office in Zahoor Elahi Ho­­use for the time being, even as a portion in the same compound is being used by their aunt Sumai­­ra Elahi for her political activities.

So charged is the political rivalry within the residence that a contingent of local police has been deployed at the property to prevent any kind of clash, an official of the Gujrat police told Dawn.

Interestingly, Shafaat Hussain, the youngest son of Zahoor Elahi, has long been inactive in local politics and sources close to him say that he is keeping a low profile due to the re­­c­­­ent rift within the family.

His position is neutral and he has been advocating for a family reunion to return to their political heyday.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024