ISLAMABAD   -   The election results of the constituencies of the ‘turncoats’ would be an area of special interest for the political observers in the next elections as they would be contesting the constituency in a changed political scenario at the local and national level.

The PTI dissidents have explicitly expressed their intention to ditch the party in the upcoming vote of no-confidence. Some of them are quite strong in their constituencies as they had defeated their opponents in the 2018 general elections by a clear margin but some of them could hardly make it to the national assembly due to tough opposition by the opponent. An interesting situation has developed in some of the Punjab province’s constituencies where the PTI turncoats have been assured of the PML-N tickets in the next election, without taking the PML-N ticket holders in 2018 general elections into confidence. It will be interesting to see how the runners up in the 2018 elections in the ‘turncoats’ constituencies — mostly from the PML-N — and the PTI workers react to the ‘turncoats’ in the next election. The PTI workers have protested against the ‘turncoats’ in their constituencies and let’s see how they manage to get out of the public pressure and restore their integrity in the public eyes before they go for the next elections.

PTI has issued show-cause notice to its 14 MNAs whom it believes are going to cross the floor on the occasion of vote on the no-confidence motion. They include: Noor Alam Khan, Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Nawab Sher, Raja Riaz Ahmad, Ahmed Hussain Deharr, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Wattoo, Makhdom Zada Sayed Basit Ahmad Sultan, Aamir Talal Gopang, Khawja Sheraz Mehmood, and Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari. Three of the dissidents who have been issued show-cause notices were elected on reserved seats. They include Wajiha Qamar and Nuzhat Pathan (Elected on reserved seats for women) and Ramesh Kumar Vankwani (Elected on a reserved seat for non-Muslims).

Raja Riaz (NA-110 Faisalabad): Raja Riaz was elected as an MPA in 1993, 2008 and 2016 on the PPP tickets. He joined the Imran-led party in 2016. He contested the 2018 general election on a PTI ticket and bagged 1,14168 votes against Muhammad Afzal Khan of the PML-N who secured 1,08091 votes. The constituency has gained much significance as Muhammad Afzal Khan has been a strong supporter of the PML-N and still a stronger candidate. Noor Alam Khan (NA-27 Peshawar-I): Noor Alam Khan was elected as an MNA in 2008 on a ticket of the PPP. He joined the PTI in 2017 and contested the 2018 election on a PTI ticket. He defeated Haji Ghulam Ali of the JUI-F and Asma Alamgir of the PPP. Noor Alam secured the seat with a clear margin of over 30,000 votes as he bagged 71242 votes. Haji Ghulam Ali and Asma Alamgir could secure only 39358 and 24015 votes respectively. Alam is considered as a strong candidate in the constituency; however, it is yet unclear which party he is going to join in future. According to the political observers, PPP may be his favourite in the next elections.

Nawab Sher (NA-102 Faisalabad-II): Sher was elected as an MNA in 2008 on a PPP ticket but in the 2013, Talal Cahudhary of the PML-N defeated him by a big margin. In 2018, Sher joined the PTI and defeated Talal Chaudhary in the election to become an MNA. Sher has openly announced that he has been assured of the PML-N ticket for the next election which, the sources said, has annoyed Talal Cahudhary. However, the PML-N leadership has promised Talal a senate ticket once he becomes eligible to become MP and that his brother would be given a PML-N ticket for a provincial assembly seat.

Syed Basit Sultan Bukhari (NA-185 Muzaffargarh-V): Bukhari was elected MPA in 1997, and later he was elected as an MNA in 2002 on a PML-Q ticket. In the 2010 by-election, he was elected as an MPA. He contested the 2013 election on a PML-N ticket and won the seat. He later became active at the platform of ‘Janoobi Punjab Sooba Mahaz’ and won the 2018 election as an independent candidate and later joined the PTI.

Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla (NA-98 Bhakkar-II): Dhandla contested the 2018 general election on a PTI ticket and defeated Rashid Akbar Khan by a thin margin. Dhandla bagged 139277 votes while Rashid Akbar got 134809 votes. It is said that the turncoats would find it difficult to again secure the constituency where the winning margin was nominal. Ahmed Hussain Deharr (NA-154 Multan-I): Deharr was elected as an MPA on a PPP Ticket in 2008. In 2018, the PTI leadership initially awarded party ticket to Sikandar Hayat Bosan, but party command had to change the decision and Deharr succeeded in getting a party ticket. He bagged 74283 votes to defeat Syed Abdul Qadir Gillani, son of former PM Yusuf Raza Gillani (64262 votes). Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon (NA-159 Multan-VI): Noon was first elected MPA in 2002. In the 2018 elections, he defeated Muhammad Zulqarnain Bukhari by a thin margin. He secured 102754 votes while Bukhari bagged 99477 votes. Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Wattoo (NA-166 Bahawalnagar-I): Wattoo was elected as an MNA on a PTI ticket as he bagged 102385 votes, while Syed Muhammad Asghar bagged 93291 votes. Aamir Talal Gopang (NA-186 Muzaffargarh-VI): Gopang bagged 63564 votes in the 2018 elections on the PTI ticket to defeat Muhammad Daood Khan who secured 53690 votes. Khawja Sheraz Mehmood (NA-189 DG Khan-I): Mehmood defeated the opponent in the 2018 election by a clear margin as he bagged 78824 votes. The runner up Sardar Meer Badshah Khan Qaisrani could bag only 39562 votes. Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari (NA-195 Rajanpur-III): He is son of former prime minister Bulkh Sher Mazari. He won the 2018 election as an independent candidate and later joined the PTI. He bagged 89829 votes to defeat Khizar Hussain Mazari by a clear margin.