PMLN suffers 3rd by-poll defeat in Ayaz Sadiq’s constituency

LAHORE:Hardluck story continued for PMLN in the constituency of its MNA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq where not a single time, the party candidate has won a by-poll on the provincial seat.

Currently, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, former Speaker National Assembly is the sitting MNA from NA-129 and for the third time in last 20 years, it has happened that PMLN lost a Provincial Assembly seat in the by-poll that falls under the NA seat where Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is the MNA. Ayaz has been un-defeated since he joined PMLN after quitting PTI. Ayaz Sadiq got elected as MNA for the first time on PMLN ticket from NA-122 in the year 2002. Then, the two Punjab Assembly seats under his NA were PP-147 and PP-148. Ayaz Sadiq won from two seats, including NA-122 and PP-147 in the 2002 general elections held on October 10, 2002.

Ayaz Sadiq retained the NA seat and vacated the Provincial Assembly seat, PP-147. In the by-polls held on the vacant seat, PMLN fielded Syed Zaeem Qadri, PMLQ came up with a new entrant Abdul Aleem Khan and MMA candidate was Ameer-ul-Azeem. In early 2003, by-polls were held and PMLN lost its seat in the hands of PMLQ's Abdul Aleem Khan.

Ayaz Sadiq also won the 2008 and 2013 elections from NA-122. In the year 2015, both NA-122 and one Provincial Assembly seat under it, PP-147 fell vacant. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq remained fortunate to win the by-poll again after a very tough contest against Abdul Aleem Khan on his seat that was held in October 2015. However, the hardluck story for PMLN continued on the Provincial Assembly seat on which Mian Mohsin Latif, who was closely related to Sharif family lost the by-poll in the hands of PTI's Shoaib Siddiqi.

In the 2018 general elections, under the new delimitations, some part of previous NA-122 was included in the new constituency, NA-129 from where Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was fielded by his party.

NA-129 include many areas which were not the part of previous NA-122 but Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was once again fortunate and won the seat in the polls held in July 2018. One Provincial seat that fell under NA-129 was PP-158 from where PMLN lost in the hands of PTI's Abdul Aleem Khan.

In the year 2022, when many PTI MPAs revolted against Imran Khan, Abdul Aleem Khan was also one of them and it was an irony of fate that this seat that falls under Sardar Ayaz Sadiq's NA seat fell vacant.

The jinx continued for PMLN as in the 2022 by-polls, it once again lost the seat. In this way, it happened for the third time in last 20 years that in the NA constituency of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq who won consecutive five times, the PMLN suffered defeat on the Provincial seat, this time in form of Mian Akram Usman. Akram Usman is son of former MNA late Mian Muhammad Usman and also a relative of PTI Parliamentary leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed.