PM enlists support of more MNAs for aide.

Byline: Syed Irfan Raza

ISLAMABAD -- With the entire nation's eyes fixed on the crucial Senate elections, Prime Minister Imran Khan had another busy day on Tuesday, meeting over 50 legislators in the Parliament House to drum up support for the government's candidate from Islamabad, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is contesting against Dr Shaikh as a joint candidate of the opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Government sources told Dawn that the prime minister gave assurances to the MNAs on initiating development activities in their constituencies.

Most lawmakers, however, told the prime minister that they had not come to present their demands before him but to reassure their support to the ruling alliance's joint candidate from Islamabad.

Mr Khan did not attend the session of the National Assembly for the second day due to his meetings.

Interestingly, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar remained present in all the meetings of the prime minister with the parliamentarians in order to hear the complaints of the MNAs from his province and take necessary action.

The MNAs, who met Mr Khan, included federal ministers Shafqat Mahmood, Asad Umar, Syed Aminul Haq and Pervez Khattak, Special Assistant Malik Mohammad Amir Dogar, Kanwal Shauzab, Raja Riaz Ahmed (NA-110), Raza Nasrullah Ghumman (NA-105), Khurram Shehzad (NA-107), Sardar Talib Hussain Nakai (NA-140), Rahat Amanullah Bhatti (NA-119), Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar (NA-135), Tahir Sadiq (NA-55), Mohammad Ibrahim Khan (NA-158), Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry (NA-85), Syed Faizul Hassan (NA-70), Chaudhry Shaukat Ali Bhatti (NA-87), Syed Mubeen Ahmed (NA-175), Zahoor Hussain Qureshi (NA-152), Prince Mohammad Nawaz (NA-12), Sher Akbar Khan (NA-9), Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti (NA-259), Khalid Hussain Magsi (NA-260), Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui (NA-255), Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani (NA-226), Salahuddin (NA-227), Usama Qadri (NA-253), Iqbal Mohammad Ali (NA-240), Kishwar Zehra, Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood, Ahmed Hussain Dehr, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi, Khusro Bakhtiar, Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Abdul Qadir Wattoo, Fida Hussain, Makhdoom Samiul Hassan, Riaz Fatiyana, Lal Chand, Shanila Ruth, Dr Ramesh Kumar, Jai Prakash, Jamshed Thomas, Sobia Kamal Khan, Sajida Begum, Nusrat Wahid, Salah Mohammad, Ali Khan Jadoon, Imran Khattak, Amir Hussain, Malik Imran Aslam Khan, Abdul Hameed Khan, Fauzia Behram and Ali Zaidi.

The National...