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Hamza Shahbaz takes oath as CM Punjab

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  • Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman administers oath.
  • Hamza Shahbaz won CM Punjab election against Pervez Elahi.
  • The chief minister beat Elahi by three votes to retain post.

Following a dramatic three-vote victory against PML-Q and PTI joint candidate Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz on Saturday took oath as chief minister of Punjab.

Governor Punjab Baligh Ur Rehman finally administered the oath to Hamza Shahbaz. The oath-taking ceremony took place at Governor House and was attended by PML-N leaders and other government officials.

‘Will continue mission of serving people’

After coming into office, Hamza thanked Allah, the PML-N, coalition parties, particularly naming Asif Ali Zardari and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, both of whom he said played a “central role” in “strengthening democracy in the country”.

“InshaAllah we will continue our mission of serving the people,” he said.

Hamza wins by three votes

Hamza Shahbaz, a day prior, retained the post of the Punjab chief minister as Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari, citing Article 63A of the Constitution, rejected 10 votes cast by PML-Q members.

As a result, Hamza received 179 votes, while Elahi, who was backed by the PTI, managed to bag 176 votes.

Petition filed against Mazari’s ruling on CM Punjab poll

After Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari’s ruling on the Punjab Chief Minister’s election about rejecting PML-Q votes, a petition was filed against the CM Punjab election.

Pervez Elahi’s counsel Aamir Saeed Rawn filed the petition in the SC Lahore Registry late at night in which Hamza Shahbaz, Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari and the chief secretary have been made parties.

While talking to the media, Aamir Saeed said Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari had interpreted the SC verdict wrong, therefore, Chief Justice Pakistan (CJP) should take sou motu notice.

Battle for Punjab

The battle for the throne of Punjab has continued since former chief minister Usman Buzdar’s resignation.

After Buzdar, PTI had nominated PML-Q Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, while PML-N and coalition partners in the central supported Hamza Shahbaz for the top slot.

However, On April 16, Hamza Shahbaz had been elected as chief minister with a clean majority but the crisis further deepened in the province as the former governor refused to take the oath.

Later, Hamza moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) and then on April 30, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered the oath to Hamza on the directives of the LHC.

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Lahore, PP-161: LHC deems the ECP recounting order null and invalid

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Farrukh Javed, the victorious candidate, filed a petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order to recount the votes in PP-161 before a single bench of the high court, led by Justice Shahid Karim, was formed.

The bench dismissed the ECP’s order to recount the votes in the constituency and accepted the petition.

The PML-N candidate Umar Sohail filed a petition for a vote recount with the electoral commission, according to Unmute Farrukh Javed MPA’s court plea.

Per the petitioner, the electoral commission issued a notice of vote recount after granting the second-place candidate’s request.

In his view, the election process was not yet over when the ECP issued the order for a vote recount.

The ECP’s order for the recounting of ballots in provincial constituency PP-161 was revoked by the bench after it allowed the petition.

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The LHC has issued a summons regarding the policy on wheat procurement.

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The court was considering a petition filed by the Punjab farmers challenging the province government’s decision to decline purchasing wheat from them.

The petitioner alleged that the government is legally obligated to procure wheat from farmers at the designated price and had publicised a policy to purchase wheat from farmers at Rs 3,900 per maund. However, the government has failed to put this policy into effect.

The Punjab government was scheduled to commence the procurement of wheat from farmers on April 22. However, there has been no progress thus far in the wheat purchase, thereby exposing farmers to the risk of selling their harvests at reduced prices as a result of rainfall.

The petitioner implored the court to mandate the government’s procurement of wheat from farmers and to initiate measures against the mafia.

Punjab farmers have filed a petition with the Lahore High Court (LHC) to challenge the government’s decision to not purchase their wheat.

Following an initial hearing on the case, Justice Shahid Karim, the judge of the LHC, requested a documentation of the Punjab government’s choices pertaining to wheat purchase.

Punjab’s farmers are currently protesting the government’s decision to postpone the purchase of wheat from them.

Yesterday, insiders from the Food Department disclosed that the Punjab government has not yet made a decision regarding the procurement of wheat.

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Lahore experiences a winter-like ambiance following rainfall.

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Lahore’s maximum temperature has significantly decreased due to recent rainfall in the province capital over the past 24 hours.

Jail Road saw a rainfall of 8.5 millimeters, Gulberg received 10 millimeters, and Lakshmi Chowk received 14 millimeters of rainfall. In addition, Upper Mall received a rainfall measurement of 5 millimeters, Mughalpura received 3.5 millimeters, and Tajpura received 3 millimeters.

In addition, Nishtar Town received a rainfall of 1 millimeter, Pani Wala Talab received 12 millimeters, Farukh Abad received 4 millimeters, Gulshan Ravi received 20 millimeters, Iqbal Town received 6 millimeters, Samanabad received 8 millimeters, and Johar Town received 1 millimeter.

The city’s electricity transmission infrastructure has been significantly affected by the rain, resulting in the tripping of over 100 Lesco feeders. Multiple localities had power outages as a result of tripped feeders and other technical malfunctions.

Power outages have resulted in substantial discomfort for people in several localities, including as Manawan, Batapur, Sabzazar, Gulshan Ravi, Samanabad, Pir Nasir, Mughalpura, Shalimar, Mustafa Abad, Baghbanpura, Ferozpur Road, Islampura, Qila Gujjar Singh, and Walton Road.

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