'Independent' candidate Muhammad Salman who defeated PTI's Shah Mehmood disqualified

MULTAN - The Election Commission of Pakistan has disqualified Muhammad Salman, an independent-turned-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Muhammad Salman, who defeated the incumbent foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the last general elections for PP-217 seat of the Punjab Assembly.

The decision came on a petition filed by a local leader of PTI who highlighted that Muhammad Salman was underage and was thus not qualified to be a lawmaker.

Announcing the reserved verdict on Monday, the election-watchdog has ordered re-election in the constituency.

'According to Nadra record, the age of Muhammad Salman is less than 25 years, however, legally no candidate, less than 25 years of age is qualified to retain the seat,' stated ECP in its verdict.

Muhammad Salman had taken part in the July 25 polls as an independent contender, however, surprised the political analysts by beating Shah Mehmood Qureshi - who was the strongest candidate for the slot of CM Punjab at the time.

After securing victory, Salman joined PTI and a picture of him along with party chief Imran Khan and former secretary general, Jahangir Tareen irked the supporters of Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

In the General Elections, Muhammad Salman Naeem secured 35,300 votes while Qureshi bagged 31716 votes, shattering his dreams to steer Punjab, once governed by his father as a governor.