Lahore: The victory of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) candidate Naveed Ashiq Diyal in the PP-157 by-elections for a Punjab Assembly seat from Lahore has proved to be another upset for the joint opposition parties.
Unofficial results show that Naveed Ashiq Diyal obtained 15,619 votes while Rana Tajammul got 7,527.
Although political analysts had predicted Naveed's victory, this will not only provide the PML-Q with a strong platform in Lahore for the upcoming elections, but also affect the activities of Diyal's rivals, the Ghurki family.
Currently, Wagah is the only town being run by an opposition nazim, the Pakistan Peoples Party-backed Khalid Javed Ghurki.
Criticism
He has been very vocal in his criticism of the provincial government for discriminatory treatment in terms of development projects.
He claims that the Punjab government was deliberately victimising and ignoring his town because he, his wife Samina Ghurki (MNA from NA-130) and the former PML-N MPA Rana Tajammul Hussain who lost the by-election against Naveed, belonged to opposition parties.
This is the fourth provincial assembly constituency in Lahore that the PML-Nawaz despite being supported by the Pakistan Peoples Party and religious parties has lost to the PML after the general election of 2002.
The PML-N had won 14 provincial assembly seats out of a total 25 from Lahore during the general election.
