PML-N seeks PPP’s support for NA-249 by-poll

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has sought support from the Pakistan Peoples Party for its candidate, Miftah Ismail, who is contesting the upcoming by-election in Karachi in the National Assembly constituency NA-249.

The PML-N sought support to this effect as its central leader and former prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, visited the Bilawal House on Saturday and met PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The meeting took into consideration affairs related to the upcoming by-election in Karachi.

Bilawal said that he would give a response to the request of the PML-N after consulting with his party.

The meeting was also attended by PPP leaders Sherry Rehman and Naveed Qamar and PML-N candidate Miftah Ismail.

Separately, the PPP chairman chaired a meeting at the Bilawal House to review the preparations being made to hold a public meeting of the party in Rawalpindi on April 4, 2021, to mark the death anniversary of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Bilawal was given a briefing on the preparations for the public meeting. He asked the party’s office-bearers to expedite the process of preparations in this regard.

ANP, PSP in the race

Other political parties have also intensified their activities for the closely-watched contest. The constituency fell vacant after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Faisal Vawda, who was also serving as the federal minister for water resources, resigned from his National Assembly membership after casting his vote in the recently-held Senate elections. He has also been elected to the Senate from Sindh.

The by-election will be held on April 29, according to the ECP schedule. On Sunday, two political parties, the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), held meetings to discuss the by-election and announced that they would take part in the poll.

In its parliamentary board meeting headed by provincial president Shahi Syed, the ANP announced that the party’s provincial vice-president and former town nazim Baldia Town Haji Aurangzeb Buneri would be its candidate in the NA-249 by-poll.

Similarly, the PSP in its central meeting decided to take part in the NA-249 by-election. In the meeting, three candidates — the party supremo Syed Mustafa Kamal, Vice Chairman and former MPA Syed Hafeezuddin and Member National Council and District Keamari President Humayun Usman submitted their nomination papers. PSP leaders told The News that the party would finalise one of the three candidates for the by-poll.

PTI’s Vawda had won the seat during the 2018 general elections after defeating PML-N President and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif by a narrow margin. Vawda had secured 35,344 votes while Shahbaz, polled 34,626 votes.

TLP candidate Mufti Abid Mubarak and MQM-P candidate Aslam Shah had ranked third and fourth after bagging 23,981 and 13,534 votes respectively. The Jamaat-e-Islami’s Syed Ataullah Shah had ranked fifth by securing 10,307 votes, while Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Qadir Mandokhel polled a mere 7,236 votes and ranked sixth in the competition.