Yusuf Raza Gilani Personal Vote Bank Makes NA-158 Contest Interesting

Among six National Assembly seats of district Multan, NA-158 (Shujabad-V), is one of the most interesting contests, as former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani is striving against the PML-N candidate Syed Javed Ali Shah and PTI candidate Ibrahim Khan.

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jul, 2018 ) :Among six National Assembly seats of district Multan, NA-158 (Shujabad-V), is one of the most interesting contests, as former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani is striving against the PML-N candidate Syed Javed Ali Shah and PTI candidate Ibrahim Khan.

It would be the first election of Gilani after his five-year disqualification. He had carried out record development in south Punjab when he was prime minister of Pakistan. Although he used to contest polls against Sikandar Hayat Bosan in NA-154 (previously 151), this time he selected another constituency.

However, his son Syed Abdul Qadir Gilani is contesting against Sikandar Hayat Bosan (Independent), PTI's candidate Ahmed Hassan Dehr and PML-N candidate Suleman Qureshi, in that constituency.

According to political analysists, Yusuf Raza Gilani selected Shujabad constituency as he enjoys good support from his devotees as his personal vote bank and he has been assured of victory there.

In Election 2013, Ahmed Mujtuba Gilani, the brother of Yusuf Raza Gilani was PPP candidate and he lost election with heavy margin, nearly 48,000 votes, against the PML-N candidate and secured 32,000 less votes than the PTI candidate.

PML-N's Javed Ali Shah had won Shujabad constituency by securing 80,650 votes. However, the PTI candidate Ibrahim Khan secured 64,395 votes while Ahmed Mujtuba Gilani bagged 32,435 votes.

This time, the situation is very much interesting because the ex-prime minister Gilani is himself a candidate and striving to secure the seat for the PPP. He is gaining popularity with each passing day because of his personality factor. Although, PPP as a party has less number of votes in this area, elder Gilani's personal vote bank would play an important role in elections. Recently, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also visited Shujabad city and addressed rallies.

PML-N's Javed Ali Shah is also one of popular candidates and he stood winner in Election 2013. He also takes credit for Motorway, which was being laid in his constitutency. He is working hard and his family enjoys good support in Shujabad city and the river bed area.

PTI's Ibrahim Khan is also considered a very tough candidate. In Election 2013, he remained runner-up. He lost election by margin of nearly 16,000 votes. This time, the wave of PTI is also blowing in south Punjab.