SIALKOT - As the elections of Local Bodies’ heads are only two weeks away, the political activities have accelerated with the party factions vying for their respective candidates for different LB slots in Sialkot district.

The provincial and district leaders of PML-N have been facing difficulties in the final nomination of the candidates to be agreed upon by the MNAs and MPAs for the slots of chairman and vice chairmen of Zila Council Sialkot, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Municipal Corporation Sialkot and the chairmen and vice chairmen of the municipal committees in Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur tehsils here.

Sialkot has two federal ministers namely Khawaja Asif, the federal minister for defence, water and power, and Zahid Hamid, federal minister for law and climate change, and Punjab Minister Manshaullah Butt. According to the schedule, the elections would be held on December 22, 2016. But the PML-N leadership is still unable to bring the candidates acceptable for the MNAs and MPAs.

The Local leadership of PML-N has confirmed that the political differences between Khawaja Asif and MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah have not yet been ended and these political differences were aggregating day by day in Sialkot over the burning political issue of nomination of PML-N candidate for the slot.

MNA Sahibzada Syed Iftikharul Hassan said that he had been an old and loyal worker of the PML-N in all the hard times especially during the Musharraf Regime. He said that he deserved to nominate party candidate for the slot of Chairman Zila Council Sialkot. But, he said, the local leadership of PML-N in Sialkot was totally ignoring him in this regard.

Talking to the party workers at his political Dera in village Aallo Mahaar Sharif-Daska, Iftikharul Hassan hinted to bring his own candidates against the PML-N candidate for the slot of chairman of Zila Council, if the PML-N provincial leadership does not consider his proposal.

Local leadership of PML-N said that the PML-N leadership in the province was considering the name of Hina Arshad Warraich, the daughter of Sambrial based MPA, as PML-N candidate for the slot of Chairman Zila Council Sialkot and the names of chairmen of different UCs Ch Raza Subhani (Variyo family’s scion and the younger brother of MNA Ch Armughan Subhani), Ch Jamil Ashraf(former MPA and elder brother of MPA Ch Mohsin Ashraf) and Malik Ziyafat Awan (backed by the Variyo family) for the three eats of vice chairmen of Zila Council.

In Sialkot city, the PML-N seems to be divided over the issue. The PML-N leadership is considering the names of two Sialkot based leading exporters for these slots. Ch Tauheed Akhtar, exporter and former Chairman of Sialkot International Airport, is being declared favourite as PML-N candidate for the slot of Mayor of Sialkot city and Muhammad Rafiq Mughal, a leading exporter, as favourite candidate for the slot of Deputy Mayor of Sialkot city.

In this prevailing LB political scenario, the PML-N’s Sh Zafar Iqbal Anand Group has also announced its candidates Sheikh Ashraf Anan for the slot of Mayor of Sialkot and Ch Bashir Ahmed for Deputy Mayor against the PML-N candidates.

In Pasrur City’s LB politics, the Variyo Family’s scion and MNA Ch Armughan Subhani has announced full political support to Zahid Hamid against the local PML-N MPA Ch Munawar Ali Gill ahead of the election of the head of the Pasrur Municipal Committee here. Armughan Subhani said that he was also holding the local political meetings to support Federal Minister Zahid Hamid.

In Pasrur, the PML-N remained split into two main groups namely Federal Minister Zahid Hamid Group and MPA Ch. Munawar Ali Gill Group.

Also in Daska, the PML-N is divided into five groups over the issue of nomination of party candidate for the slot chairman of Daska Municipal Committee. These groups are MNA Sahibzada Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah Group, MPA Asif Bajwa Group, President PML-N Daska City Afzal Mansha Group, patron-in-chief of PML-N Daska City Tauheed Iqbal Butt Group and former MPA Mumtaz Ali Group. All these groups were busy in lobbying for their respective candidates.