{"id":17301,"date":"2025-08-23T00:04:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T00:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=17301"},"modified":"2025-08-23T00:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T00:04:28","slug":"pml-n-ticket-race-heats-up-in-punjab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=17301","title":{"rendered":"PML-N ticket race heats up in Punjab"},"content":{"rendered":"
With six more seats falling vacant \u2014\u00a0four in the National Assembly and two in the Provincial Assembly \u2014\u00a0the scramble for the PML-N ticket has entered full swing, drawing in both seasoned hands and fresh entrants.<\/p>\n

Among the hopefuls is a former young journalist, now serving as special assistant to the prime minister with the status of a state minister.<\/p>\n

Party president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, during a meeting at his northern retreat, directed the Cheema family of Wazirabad to make way for Federal Minister Bilal Farooq Tarar, who has been given the party’s nod for the NA-66 ticket.<\/p>\n

The six newly opened seats also include two that, in 2024, the PML-N had handed over to the then newly formed ‘kings party’, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).<\/p>\n

However, according to a member of the prime minister’s team, there is no fresh understanding with the IPP this time, meaning the PML-N intends to field its own candidates on those constituencies.<\/p>\n

However, he conceded that in principle no such matter has officially surfaced on the decision-making table.<\/p>\n

The three seats where nomination papers must be submitted by August 30 are NA-143 Sahiwal, PP-203 Sahiwal and NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan.<\/p>\n

Of these, the most intriguing contest is shaping up in NA-185 DG Khan, where a former journalist and somewhat enigmatic figure, Huzaifa Rehman, is also said to be in the running.<\/p>\n

The contenders include Mehmood Qadir Khan, a past contestant for this seat, Jamal Lagari, Abdul Farooq Khosa, a relative of the Sardar Khosa family, Osama Abdul Kareem, son of Senator Hafiz Abdul Kareem and businessman Dr. Shafiq Pitafi, brother of a sitting MPA.<\/p>\n

Among them is also Huzaifa Rehman, who currently serves as SAPM with the status of a state minister for the Heritage and Cultural Division.<\/p>\n

With little to show in terms of journalistic experience and no notable family lineage, his rise is viewed as something of a riddle, with many attributing it to the old art of excessive flattery.<\/p>\n

According to a local, Huzaifa has plastered the district with his banners.<\/p>\n

In NA-143 (Sahiwal), previously left open for IPP, Muhammad Tufail Jutt, who ran as an independent in 2024 and secured over 83,000 votes, is considered a strong favourite.<\/p>\n

The PTI-backed winner, Rai Hasan Nawaz, had received more than 147,000 votes, while IPP’s Malik Nouman Langrial polled around 32,000.<\/p>\n

So far, Tufail has not begun campaigning. For PP-203 (Sahiwal), his younger brother, Muhammad Hanif Jutt, is also regarded as a strong contender, having finished runner-up in 2024 as a PML-N candidate.<\/p>\n

The latest constituencies where election schedules have been announced are NA-104, NA-96, and PP-98, all in Faisalabad division.<\/p>\n

In Faisalabad, Talal Chaudhry, a key party figure, is reportedly not interested in giving up his Senate seat, making him an unlikely contender for a National Assembly ticket.<\/p>\n

With him out of the equation, the NA-96 ticket is expected to go to Nawaz Sher Waseer, who was runner-up with 92,504 votes against PTI-backed Rai Haider’s 134,485.<\/p>\n

For NA-104, the contest is shaping up between Daniyal Ahmed, the 2024 runner-up, and SAPM Rana Ehsan Afzal.<\/p>\n

Given Afzal’s family’s long association with the party and his presence in the power corridors, he is widely seen as the frontrunner.<\/p>\n

Party insiders note that the earlier commitment to PTI-turned-IPP leader Raja Riaz was limited to the 2024 elections, and the PML-N feels no obligation to accommodate his son, Raja Daniyal, this time.<\/p>\n

PP-98 (Faisalabad) is expected to go to Azad Ali Tabasum. In 2024, the seat had been allotted to IPP’s Muhammad Ajmal as part of the settlement.<\/p>\n

When approached for comment, IPP spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan was unavailable.<\/p>\n

However, IPP leader Raja Yawar Kamal confirmed that the party had asked its leaders to file nomination papers, adding that any seat settlement with the PML-N would ultimately be decided at the leadership level.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Cheema family \u2014\u00a0Dr Nisar Cheema and Zulfiqar Cheema \u2014\u00a0met both Nawaz Sharif at his northern retreat and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad.<\/p>\n

According to a party insider, the Cheemas reiterated that their entry into politics was solely because of Nawaz Sharif, pledging loyalty with or without the ticket.<\/p>\n

Nawaz assured the family that Wazirabad “was and remains their constituency”, but directed them to fully support Bilal Farooq Tarar’s candidacy.<\/p>\n

However, several party leaders privately expressed concern that Bilal’s candidature in NA-66 could mark the effective end of the Cheema family’s influence in the constituency.<\/p>\n

Senior PML-N leader Abid Raza Kotla dismissed such worries, declaring that “Wazirabad and the entire Gujranwala division is a PML-N stronghold. Here, votes belong to the party, not the candidate”.<\/p>\n

He described Bilal Farooq as “a vibrant and energetic candidate”, while lauding the Cheema family’s loyalty, calling Dr Nisar Cheema “a thorough gentleman”.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With six more seats falling vacant \u2014\u00a0four in the National Assembly and two in the Provincial Assembly \u2014\u00a0the scramble for the PML-N ticket has entered full swing, drawing in both seasoned hands and fresh entrants. Among the hopefuls is a former young journalist, now serving as special assistant to the prime minister with the status […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}