ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday refused PML N ticket andsubmitted nomination papers for two National Assembly and as many PunjabAssembly seats as an independent candidate.
The nomination papers were submitted with the Election Commission ofPakistan’s (ECP) Rawalpindi office for NA-59 Rawalpindi, NA-63 Taxila andPunjab Assembly’s PP-10 and PP-12.
The submissions were made by Nisar’s close aide Shaikh Aslam as theex-interior minister was on bed rest due to severe backache, according tosources in PML-N’s Rawalpindi chapter.
The move, according to party sources, comes as a preemptive measure on partof the former interior minister to counter any situation arising out of thePML-N leadership’s decision on awarding him party’s ticket.
The PML-N is expected to announce its finalised candidates for the upcominggeneral elections in Lahore today. The party’s parliamentary board has beeninterviewing the candidates to finalise party ticket-holders over the lastfew days.
In Rawalpindi Division, the PML-N is facing a major challenge as theparty’s top command is locked in serious differences over the award oftickets to Chaudhry Nisar and Hanif Abbasi.
According to PML-N insiders, party supremo and former prime minister NawazSharif was not in favour of awarding tickets to Nisar and Hanif. On theother hand, Shehbaz .was in favour of awarding tickets to both. Nisar didnot apply for the PML-N ticket and had announced contesting the electionsfrom Rawalpindi.