ISLAMABAD - Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) currently is in a state of confusion to award tickets to strong candidates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, as following the orders of party’s chief Altaf Hussain the concerned party regions are bound to announce tickets till April 10.
“MQM has planned to announce party tickets for all the constituencies of Khyber Pakhtun Khwa (KPK) and Punjab till April 10,” a source in MQM told TheNation.
Muttahida in previous elections had fielded 39 candidates from Punjab with the hope to bag almost one seat but could not secure even a single seat. The situation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also not much different from that of Punjab.
Albeit the party tried to exploit the situation mentioning its ‘efforts’ for ‘new province’ in both the provinces but could not get much popularity on it, background interviews and discussions with party workers of these area left this impression.
It would not be out of place to mention here that MQM as per its tall claims though never forged pre-poll alliances but this time their options are open for political partnership in Punjab to get some breath in parliament from Punjab.
They said that in Punjab two candidates including Mirza Furqan Ali Mughal (PP-196) Multan- III and Iftikhar Ahmed Randhawa (NA-159) are bit strong to bag comparatively some votes but no consider being strong enough to secure representation from Punjab.
MQM sources said that the party is targeting the “Urdu-speakers” of Punjab and will field candidates in constituencies in which this category is predominant. “The process of scrutiny is getting late due to search of appropriate strong candidate but following the orders of party chief the process will be finalized till 10 April,” they said.
It is relevant to mention here that party workers on special orders of the party leadership focused in upper & southern Punjab and KPK but the situation is not satisfactory.
When contacted, an MQM senior leader from Punjab said that party workers were in process to scrutinize suitable candidates and more than half of the candidates have been finalized. “We will announce our candidate on April 10. Hopefully will win some seats from KPK and Punjab,” he added.