Mohsin Naqvi confirms plan to run for Senate seat from Punjab

• Naqvi confirms meeting Zardari, Shehbaz over future "assignment".
• Former chief minister currently serving as PCB chairman.
• PTI rules out "reconciliation" if Naqvi included in interior ministry.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has confirmed that he will be contesting in the Senate polls from Punjab next month.

Speaking to The News on Saturday, Naqvi said that though he would be the Senate's "candidate of all", he hasn't decided on his future political identity.

Responding to a question regarding earlier reports suggesting his role in the Ministry of Interior, the former Punjab caretaker chief minister said that no decision has been made in this regard and discussions are underway despite his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President-elect Asif Ali Zardari.

Naqvi's prospective bid for a seat in the upper house comes amid severe opposition from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) whose senior leader Asad Qasier — while speaking during Geo News' programme "Naya Pakistan" — had ruled out any possibility of "reconciliation" if Naqvi is to be included in the interior ministry.

Earlier, The News, citing sources, had reported that Naqvi was being considered for the appointment as adviser to the prime minister on interior affairs with Rana Mehmoodul Hassan being the candidate for the Senate from Punjab.

Sources added that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid's (PML-Q) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, a key figure in the coalition, reportedly placed a condition on the leadership of the alliance parties to ensure Naqvi’s unopposed election as senator.

Currently, the former Punjab chief minister is serving as the PCB's head after being elected unopposed and replacing Zaka Ashraf as the cricketing body's chief for the next three years last month.

However, it is pertinent to know that Naqvi's appointment as PCB chairman has been challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) with the court having reserved its verdict on the petition relying on the caretaker prime minister's powers to appoint the board's chief.