Punjab CM election: Close contest likely between Pervaiz Elahi and Hamza Shahbaz

ISLAMABAD – A close contest is likely between government’s ally candidate Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and opposition nominee Hamza Shahbaz for the coveted slot of Punjab chief minister.

The voting will be held in Punjab Assembly today. The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Sardar Usman Buzdar following a ‘deal’ between the ruling PTI and PML-Q few days back.

Both candidates need at least 186 votes in the House of 371 to win the poll for the slot of Punjab CM.

Earlier, reports in local media said joint opposition candidate Hamza Shahbaz won the support of Aleem Khan group and the PML-N leader met more than 10 members of the disgruntled PTI group.

Mian Khalid Mehmood, Ashraf Rind, Alamdar Qureshi, Owais Dareshk, Haroon Imran Gul, Ayesha Chaudhry, Khurram Leghari, and Sajida Yousaf were among the leaders who attended the meeting while Rana Sanaullah, Owais Leghari, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Ataullah Tarar represented PML-N Punjab in the meeting.

Another blow to PTI as Aleem Khan group backs Hamza Shahbaz for Punjab CM slot