Pre-decided outcome?: Neither PPP nor PTI field big names against PML-N in Lahore
LAHORE:
In a significant pattern with neither Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nor Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) fielding their heavyweight politicians in 13 National Assembly (NA) seats of Lahore against Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N)s candidates for the May 11 general elections, we may have something to watch out for.
Constituencies where once the likes of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto contested and won, now have second- and third-tier contestants from the PPP, and no stalwarts of PTI either.
Does that mean these parties have unofficially conceded defeat to PML-N even before the elections? Or is this wise political strategy whereby they dont want to waste their strongest contestants? In any case, this signifies that PML-N remains a force to reckon with in the Punjab.
While PPP does have a track record of winning in Lahore, particularly when it clean-swept the city in the general elections of 1970 and 1977, this time it doesnt seem to have a strategy for reclaiming its former glory.
On the other hand, PTI which claims that it can wipe out PML-N from Lahore has so far contested in two general elections (in 1997 and 2002) and both times, its leader Imran Khan lost his seats. In 1997, he suffered defeat at the hands of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and renowned TV anchor Tariq Aziz from the two constituencies he stood for.
This time, PTIs head Imran Khan plans to contest from NA 122. PML-N has unofficially revealed that Ayaz Sadiq will contest against Khan. Sadiq and Khan were once together in PTI but later parted ways. In the 2002 elections, Sadiq had defeated Khan from the same constituency with a big margin.
Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif will contest elections from NA 120 and NA 129, respectively, both being constituencies where they would not have to face any heavyweight competitors.
According to PML-N officials, PTIs only chance in Lahore is if Khan and PTIs Lahore President Abdul Aleem Khan contest from NA 125 and NA 126, respectively.
PPPs candidate from NA 125, Naveed Chaudhry, hopes Khan contests against him, as he believes this would divide PML-Ns votes and Chaudhry could then safely steal the show.
It is pertinent to mention that none of the contestants in PTIs list of candidates from Lahore have ever been members of the National or Provincial assemblies. Khan is the only exception, as he was an MNA in 2002 from a seat he won from Mianwali.
Out of the PPPs list of candidates, only two have experience of having been MNAs, namely Samina Khalid Ghurki from NA 130 and Tariq Shabbir Mayos from NA 129.
Naveed Chaudhry, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that whenever free and fair elections are held in the country, PPP wins all seats from Lahore. Ever since the rigged elections of 1988 and 1990, PPP started to lose its grip on Lahore city, he said. PPP boycotted the 1985 elections, and bagged six seats in the 1988 elections. It won only one seat each time in the 1990 and 1993 elections, three seats in 2002 and two seats in 2008.
In 1988, when Islami Jamhoori Itehad (IJI) could not get a majority in NA, certain people engineered insidious plans to get IJI to win in the Punjab Assembly in the provincial elections, said Chaudhry. He pointed out that the Supreme Court had recently declared that 1990 elections were rigged.
Chaudhry added that after decades, free and fair elections are going to be held, and he hoped that PPP would wrest back its power in the city.
A majority of PML-N candidates have previous experience as lawmakers and are determined and hopeful of winning all seats in the forthcoming election. They hope to eliminate PPP and PTI as political forces from Lahore.
Nawaz Sharif first contested elections in 1985 as an independent candidate. In 1988 and 1990, IJI bagged two and eight seats respectively. PML-N was established after the 1990 elections and contested as a party for the first time in the 1993 election. PML-N won eight seats both in 1993 and 1997, four seats in 2002 and 11 seats in 2008.
1970 election
Total 8 NW assembly seats, ranging from NW 58 to NW 65
PPP, contesting with the sword symbol, swept all eight seats in Lahore
ZA Bhutto, contesting for the first and last time from NW60 Lahore, bagged 78,132 votes
Pakistan Muslim Leagues Javed Iqbal got 33,921 votes
ZA Bhutto also won NW 116 Larkana, NW 79 Multan, NW 121 Hyderabad and NW127 Thatta. He retained NW 116
ZA Bhutto vacated NW 60 after the January 1971 by-elections, after which PPPs Mian Mehmood Ali Kasuri won the seat
1977 election
There were 8 NA seats, stretching from NA 81 to NA 88
Three parties PPP, Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) and PML Qayyum were in the field
PPP, contesting with the sword symbol, swept all eight seats in Lahore
PNA came in second
The winners included SM Masood, Khalid Latif Kardar, Mian Ehsanul Haq, Dr SM Yaqoob, Mian Salahuddin, Malik M Akhtar, M Rashid and Malik Miraj Khalid
1985 election
There were 8 NA seats, stretching from NA 81 to NA 88
Elections were held on a non-party basis: individuals could only contest as independent candidates
PPP boycotted the election
Junejos close companions, office bearers of Jamat-e-Islami, Liaqat Baloch and Hafiz Salman Butt, and Nawaz Sharif became members of the NA from NA 86 Lahore
Nawazs first appearance in the political realm was a success
Nawaz bagged 35,719 votes while his rival Ahmad Hassan Syed Asad Gilani got 17,896 votes
Nawaz also won a Punjab assembly seat, PP 105 Lahore, which he opted to retain
By-elections on the vacated NA 86 seat were held on May 19, 1985. Ahmad Hassan Syed Asad Gillani won the seat
1988 election
Number of NA seats increased from 8 to 9 due to delimitation, which ranged from NA 92 to NA 100
PPP, contesting with the arrow symbol, bagged 6 seats, while Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) bagged the other 2
Benazir Bhutto won NA 94 and got 53,425 votes
Benazir also won two other NA seats, NA 166 Larkana and NA 189 Karachi
She retained NA 166 but PPP lost NA 94 in the by-elections
Nawaz Sharif, now contesting under IJI, won NA 95 with 49,318 votes
Nawaz also won NA 88 Sialkot and two seats in the Punjab assembly. He retained PP 123.
In the by-elections Mian Azher wonNA 95 on the IJI platform
The six victorious PPP MNAs were Aitzaz Ahsan (NA 93), Benazir Bhutto (NA 94), Jahangir Badar (NA 96), Kh Ahmed Tariq Raheem (NA 97), Haji M Asghar (NA 99) and Meraj Khalid (NA 100)
1990 election
There were 9 NA seats, ranging from NA 92 to NA 100
PPP, contesting with the arrow symbol, formed an alliance with Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA), against IJI, which contested with the bicycle symbol
PPP only won one seat: Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, on PDAs platform, bagged 65,624 votes
IJI won 8 seats
Nawaz Sharif won
NA 95. He bagged 59, 944 votes
His rival, PDAs Air Marshal Asghar Khan, got 39,585 votes
Shahbaz Sharif made his first foray into politics, on IJIs platform. He defeated PDAs Jahangir Badar by a slight margin from NA 96
1993 election
There were 9 NA seats, ranging from NA 92 to NA 100
Nawaz Sharif contested elections under his own party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N), with the symbol of the tiger.
PPP contested with the arrow symbol once again
PML-N won eight seats while PPP won only one
Nawaz won NA 92, NA 95 Lahore and
NA 12 Abbotabad. He retained NA 12.
After the by-elections, Mian Abbas Sharif from NA 92 and Ishaq Dar from NA 95 won the seats
Shahbaz Sharif won NA 96 and PP 125. During the by-elections, he quit NA 96, which Hashmi won.
PPPs Javed Ghurki won the NA 100 seat
1997 election
There were 9 NA seats, ranging from NA 92 to NA 100
PML-N swept the board, bagging 8 seats. The other was won by an independent from NA 100
Nawaz won NA 95 and NA 12 Abbottabad
Shahbaz Sharif won NA 96 and PP 125. NA went to PML-Ns Kamil Ali Agha after the by-election
This election also marked Imran Khans emergence into politics
Imran contested two seats, NA 94 and NA 95, but lost both
From NA 94, Imran bagged 4,595 votes, while his rival, PML-Ns Tariq Aziz, got 50,227 votes
From NA 95, Imran got 5,365 votes while his rival, Nawaz Sharif, bagged 50,592 votes
2002 election
Number of NA increased from 9 to 13 in the city, stretching from NA 118 to NA 130
Four parties PPP, PML-N, PTI and PML-Q contested
PML-N bagged 4 seats, PPP got 3, seats, PML-Q got 2, PTI got nothing
Dr Tahirul Qadri won a seat on a ticket from his party, Pakistan Awami Tehreek
Imran Khan contested from NA 122 against PMLNs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Imran was defeated
Sadiq bagged 37531 votes, while Imran could only get 18636
2008 election
There were 13 NA seats
PML-N bagged 11 seats while PPP won 2 seats
The Sharif brothers could not contest as their nomination papers were rejected, and Aitzaz Ahsan was leading the movement for the restoration of the judiciary
PPP candidates, Asif Hashmi from NA 118, Jahangir Badar from NA 120, Aurangzeb Burki from NA 121, and Naveed Chaudhry from NA 125, lost their seats
2013 election candidates
The PPP has awarded tickets to Asif Hashmi, Aurangzeb Burki and Naveed Chaudhry, all of whom lost in 2008
PPPs two time winner MNA Samina Khalid Ghurki (2002, 2008) is a hot candidate to give tough time to PML-N
PTIs Abdul Aleem Khan, who contested for and lost the NA 127 seat in 2008, was once again recommended for the constituency. He refused this and demanded either
NA 125 or NA 126
Aleem is yet to take his final decision, and PTIs list may be changed
For complete list of PML-N Punjab candidates visit: tribune.com.pk/elections2013
Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th, 2013.
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aur last 5 years kahan thay achanak Humara town yaad aa gaya 
then i came to know they are trying to attract youth towards PML N on name of town development ,,, it was really cheap act by PML N they are afraid of PTI's Popularity , after all this discussion i said to the PML N guy dude just remove the name of PML N and write PTI we are with you and we will bring more then 100 guy of town or make town;s Committe an independent committe we are with you we will never work or Support PML N now and he was like aik Moka tou doo hum sub kaam karen gy 
