36 PML-N tickets given to family members, close relatives of senior leaders

• 36 contestants are father-son, father-daughter, husband-wife etc. 
• Nawaz Sharif, daughter to contest for NA seats from Lahore. 
• PML-N also gives NA tickets to eight new faces in Punjab.

LAHORE: With general elections just around the corner, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) announced its party candidates for the National and Punjab Assemblies, giving tickets to more than 30 family members, The News reported Saturday. 

Among the candidates, 36 contestants are father-son, father-daughter, husband-wife, brother-in-law, mother-son, father-in-law and uncle-nephew. 

Meanwhile, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz will contest the NA polls from Lahore. Similarly, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz will participate in the NA and provincial assembly polls.

PML-N Lahore President Saiful Mulok Khokhar has been awarded a ticket for the National Assembly seat and his son Faisal Ayub for the provincial assembly. Afzal Khokhar from Lahore and his nephew Irfan Shafi Khokhar are contesting the election on the PMLN ticket.

From Dera Ghazi Khan, former minister Awais Leghari and his son Amar Leghari have been given the National Assembly tickets from Rajanpur while former minister Khawaja Saad Rafique is contesting for NA and his brother Salman Rafiq for provincial assembly from Lahore.

Former minister Syed Basit Bukhari and his daughter Syeda Shahr Bano Bukhari have been fielded from Muzaffargarh. From Bahawalpur, Iqbal Chanar has been issued a ticket for the National Assembly and his son Zaheer Iqbal Chanar for the provincial assembly. 

National Assembly tickets have been awarded to Chaudhry Khalid Javed Waraich from Toba Tek Singh and provincial tickets to his son Uqba Waraich. Yaqoob Shaikh is a candidate for the National Assembly from Jhang and his wife Rashida Yaqoob for the provincial assembly.

A National Assembly ticket has been issued to Rana Hayat from Kasur and a provincial ticket to his son Rana Sikandar, while Begum Tahmina Daultana and her son Irfan Aqeel Daultana from Vehari are also on the list. 

Furthermore, National Assembly tickets have been awarded to Amjad Farooq Khosa and his son Abdul Qadir Khosa from Dera Ghazi Khan and Taunsa. From Lodhran, Siddique Baloch has been issued a ticket for the National Assembly seat and his son Umair Baloch for the provincial assembly.

Syed Muhammad Mukhtar Hussain Shah has been given a National Assembly ticket from Khanewal and a provincial ticket for his son Muhammad Murtaza Hussain. Former federal minister Mian Javed Latif has been given the ticket for the National Assembly and his brother Mian Amjad Latif for the provincial assembly from Sheikhupura.

From Rajanpur, former deputy speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari has been issued a provincial ticket and his uncle Riyaz Mazari a National Assembly ticket. From Faisalabad, Rana Sanaullah Khan has been issued a ticket for the National Assembly and his son-in-law Rana Ahmed Shahryar for the provincial assembly.

The Shehbaz-led party has also given National Assembly tickets to eight new faces in Punjab including Bilal Azhar Kayani, son of Major General (retd) Azhar Kayani from Jhelum, Maryam Nawaz, Attaullah Tarar, grandson of former President Rafiq Tarar, will contest elections for the first time. 

Moreover, former NA member Basit Sultan Bukhari's daughter Shahr Bano Bukhari from Muzaffargarh, former minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar's son Raja Usama Sarwar from Murree, former MNA Rana Afzal Hussain's son Rana Ahmed Atiq from Sheikhupura, Najib Owaisi's son Usman Najib Owaisi and Maulvi Tariq's son Uzair Tariq from Rahim Yar Khan will also contest elections for National Assembly for the first time. 

PML-N has issued tickets to six women for the National Assembly and three for the provincial assembly in Punjab. Among the women participating in the NA elections are Maryam from Lahore; Saira Afzal Tarar from Hafizabad; Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar from Sialkot; Syeda Shahr Bano Bukhari from Muzaffargarh; Dr Shazra Mansab Kharl from Nankana; Tahmina Dalutana from Vehari. 

Meanwhile, the women contesting provincial assembly elections include Hamida Wahiduddin from Mandi Bahauddin, Nazia Raheel from Toba Tek Singh, Rashida Yaqoob from Jhang and Maryam Nawaz Sharif from Lahore.