LAHORE  -  An unexpected decision by the PPP Chairman Bilaw­al Bhutto Zardari to contest a National Assembly seat in Lahore has put the PML-N in a dilemma in view of the the longstanding understanding between the two parties not to field candidates against each oth­er’s leadership. Bilawal Bhutto filed his nomination papers from NA-127 (Lahore) on Sunday, a constitu­ency previously held by the PML-N’s Ali Pervaiz Ma­lik in the 2018 general elections. This move marks Bilawal’s first foray into electoral politics in Lahore, a city that was once a stronghold of the PPP until the 1990s. However, the PML-N managed to capture this PPP stronghold and remained the dominant elector­al force until the entry of the PTI in 2018.

In the years leading up to the 2018 polls, both the PPP and the PML-N refrained from contesting against each other’s leadership. Bilawal’s decision to contest from Lahore for the first time has put the PML-N in a difficult position as it may have to give up a seat it can retain even though after a tough com­petition. In the 2018 elections, the PML-N candidate secured victory in NA-127 with over one lakh votes (1,13,265). The PTI’s Jamshaid Iqbal Cheema was the runner-up with 66,818 votes, while the PPP-P candi­date, Ch Adnan Sarwar, only managed to secure 1775 votes. For the upcoming elections, three PML-N can­didates, Waheed Alam, Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, and Attaullah Tarar, have filed nomination papers from NA-127. The decision to withdraw in favor of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari remains uncertain. Initially planning to contest from NA-128, Bilawal changed his constit­uency to NA-127, reportedly due to persistent re­quests from PPP-P’s Faisal Mir. Mir, who has been ac­tively involved in political work in this constituency, has garnered support from the party cadres, instill­ing optimism about the upcoming elections.