Abrar ul Haq
Haq predicts that he will likely run from NA-117.
This seat has never produced a victory for PTI.
He has started campaigning for elections with bearers of provincial tickets.
LAHORE: Abrar ul Haq, the head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and a well-known musician, will be contested by the party in the Shahdara neighbourhood of Lahore, while his brother Major (ret.) Israr ul Haq will compete against Ahsan Iqbal, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, in Narowal.
The singer-turned-politician has already started his election campaign and is speaking at rallies alongside two other candidates on the NA-117, Lahore 1 ticket for the provincial parliament.
Since PTI entered the race for this seat in the 1997 elections, the party has never had a candidate win the seat. Except for the elections of SM Masood and Sher Muhammad Bhatti of the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1970 and 1977, the constituency has always been claimed by the PML-N or its allies.
The whole Shahdara, the people who live near to the Ravi bed, the entirety of Badami Bagh, Siddiqia Colony, etc. are all included in the constituency.
Haq has begun his campaign here with the approval of the party’s top leadership after the party, led by Chairman Imran Khan, chose to field him from this seat.
Even though the NA and provincial elections will take place in three to four months, a fierce battle between the PML-N and PTI is anticipated this time.
When approached, Haq told The News that his brother may be fielded from Narowal while he was most likely to run from NA-117, Lahore. Haq ran in two NA elections from Narowal in 2013 and 2018, however PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal won both times.
Election results for NA-117
Pir Muhammad Ashraf triumphed from this location in the non-party basis elections in 1985, defeating Khawaja Tariq Rahim. General (ret.) MH Ansari of Pakistan Awami Ittehad (PAI) defeated Sheikh Rafique of the PPP to win this seat in 1988. There was not a candidate put out by Islami Jamhuri Ittehad (IJI) or its primary constituent Muslim League who would have benefited General Ansari. In the 1990 general elections, Humayun Akhtar Khan of the IJI defeated Sheikh Rafique of the PPP with a sizable advantage.
Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML-N, ran from this district in the 1993 elections and easily defeated PPP candidate Haji Aziz ur Rehman Chan. Abbas Sharif, Nawaz’s brother, prevailed in the 1993 by-elections after a competitive race against a PPP candidate.
On this seat in 1997, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Mian Azhar, who defeated Mian Ahmed Mehmood of the Pakistan Muslim League-Junejo (PML-J) by a wide margin. This district’s designation from 1988 to 1997 was NA-92.
In the 2002 elections, Hafiz Salman Butt, a Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) candidate supported by the PML-N, defeated Mian Azhar, the chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) at the time.
Butt ran for office as an independent since Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) had also put Hafiz Abdul Wadood Shahid on the ballot.
At that point, the district was known as NA-118.
Former PML-N MPA Malik Riaz ran from this region in the 2008 elections and won with a significant margin. Riaz of the PML-N once again claimed victory in the elections of 2013 and 2018, although PTI candidates came in second.
