close
Tuesday March 19, 2024

Wattoo, Shujaat plan Senate play

LAHORE: Without seeking consent of his party, PPP Punjab Central President Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo has reached an understanding with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, promising support to his PML-Q party in the upcoming Senate elections, sources told The News here Saturday. In a recent meeting between the Chaudhry and Mr Wattoo

By our correspondents
January 31, 2015
LAHORE: Without seeking consent of his party, PPP Punjab Central President Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo has reached an understanding with Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, promising support to his PML-Q party in the upcoming Senate elections, sources told The News here Saturday.
In a recent meeting between the Chaudhry and Mr Wattoo at the latter’s residence, the duo agreed to form a common electoral strategy for the Senate elections, being held in March. Sources said both leaders envisioned a grand opposition alliance against the PML-N in the upper house of the parliament. They are even making efforts to approach the rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and its coalition partner in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Jamaat-e-Islami, and disgruntled members of the ruling PML-N in Punjab and other provinces.
PML-Q and PPP both have eight MPAs each in the Punjab Assembly and both are short of the required number of votes for a Senate seat. The Wattoo-Shujaat meeting also considered their political future, as sources said the former proposed to the senior PML-Q leader to support him for a Senate seat and, in turn, he would back him (Shujaat) as his successor in Senate.
However, sources said, the PML-Q leader did not agree. Instead, he requested the PPP leader to back him for a Senate seat from Punjab and he would return the favour later on. It is learnt that the PPP leader later on agreed to Ch Shujaat’s suggestion and he would support his candidature in the upcoming Senate elections. The PML-Q chief’s term in the Senate is expiring in March this year.
The party sources however dismissed claims that the PPP had entered into any deal with the PML-Q, saying Wattoo did not consult the party leadership and invited PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat on his own. Sources said Wattoo pursued it at personal level as he failed to gain the approval of the party top brass.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the PPP wishes to pitch Nadeem Afzal Chan, former PPP MNA from Sargodha and a member of a renowned political family of Mandi Bahauddin for the Senate elections and it has approached him in this regard.
It is important to note that Manzoor Wattoo lacks political standing as he is not a member of the parliament. He had lost the last general election of 2013. No leader concerned was ready to speak on record despite repeated attempts.