HARIPUR: Babar Nawaz Khan has been allotted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket for contesting the upcoming re-election on the National Assembly constituency NA-19 Haripur. Talking to The News here on Friday, a close associate of Babar Nawaz said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif endorsed his candidature after former MNA Omar Ayub Khan declined to contest the election due to the illness of his mother, Begum Zeb Gohar Ayub. It was reported that PML-N leaders, including Senator Lt Gen (Retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi and MNA Capt (Retd) Safdar, also supported the award of the party ticket to Babar Nawaz. Former chief minister Pir Sabir Shah, former provincial minister Qazi Mohammad Asad and former provincial assembly speaker Major (Retd) Habibullah Tareen also reportedly declined to face the PTI candidate Raja Amir Zaman due to unknown reasons in the re-election. This created an opportunity for Babar Nawaz, who is the son of late provincial minister Akhtar Nawaz Khan and nephew of MPA Gohar Nawaz Khan. The last-named was elected as an independent from Haripur but had later joined Aftab Sherpao’s Qaumi Watan Party. Babar Nawaz too had contested the May 2013 general election as an independent candidate for a provincial assembly seat and polled a significant number of votes. Though he lost the election, his electoral strength seems to be a factor for the PML-N to award him the ticket to contest the NA-19 Haripur re-election. In the latest development, Babar Nawaz has confirmed that he had been awarded the PML-N ticket to contest for the lone National Assembly seat from Haripur. “It’s true that PML-N has allotted the ticket to me,” he told newsmen. He added that he was also the consensus candidate of the Tarbela Dam affected communities settled in Khalabat town.
