What went wrong among Chaudhrys of Gujrat

ISLAMABAD: When the no-confidence motion was tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan, allied parties traditionally linked with the establishment sought guidance from there and most of them returned unguided. Chaudhrys of Gujrat were included among them.

That became the major reason for PMLQ’s indecisiveness as to whether to go with Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of major and minor parties against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or with Imran Khan. “The lack of direction from the establishment has left us confused,” a member of Chaudhrys’ family then told The News. The establishment used to be a guarantor of the implementation of commitments made by a major ally. “It is now hard to trust any side in absence of a credible guarantor,” he explained.

While Chaudhrys were not comfortable with Imran Khan for his unpredictable behaviour, they were as much sceptical of PMLN leadership with whom their trust deficit dates back more than a couple of decades. Nawaz Sharif had promised to make Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Punjab chief minister in 1997 but later changed his mind in favour of his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif. Chaudhrys’ joining hands later with Gen Pervez Musharraf further widened the distance between the two families.

Now, when Sharifs decided to oust Usman Buzdar from the chief minister office, they didn’t have enough numbers to bring a replacement single-handedly. Maulana Fazlur Rehman floated the idea of allying with Chaudhrys. Sharifs, after some resistance, agreed to the proposal and Asif Ali Zardari was the negotiator who Chaudhrys trusted the most, given their experience of working together during PPP government. An agreement was reached between the two sides and Sharifs gave an undertaking that they would not go for premature elections, Chaudhrys’ main concern, and that Pervaiz Elahi would remain CM till the completion of the Punjab Assembly term.

However, the next day, Pervaiz Elahi together with his son, Moonis Elahi met Imran Khan and accepted his offer to become CM of PTI, much to the shock of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who is not only the family head but also PMLQ chief. Shujaat returned with a counter-shock by allowing his son, Salik Hussain, and another party MNA, Tariq Bashir Cheema, to vote against Imran Khan during the no-confidence motion. Differences started surfacing within the family, much to the surprise even of their family friends.

Background discussions with the old-time visitors of Chaudhrys’ house reveal that while Shujaat and Pervaiz remained united throughout their life, their children were not at ease with each other for some years now. However, the differences went public after they parted ways with each other politically. As Moonis was in Imran Khan’s cabinet, Salik felt having been ignored. But he was also aware that Moonis was not enjoying good relations with Imran, who had inducted him in the ministry, and he was a kind of do-nothing minister.

Imran wanted anyone but Moonis in his cabinet from the Chaudhrys of Gujrat. That could be a point where Salik nurtured hope of becoming a minister. Also the fact remains that the family owed the political legacy to Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, the grandfather of Salik, and it was carried forward by his father, Shujaat, Salik thought himself a legitimate contender. It is also learnt that the uneven distribution of development funds was another cause of concern.

The differences were not only between the children of Shujaat and Pervaiz. As the battleline was drawn, Shujaat’s younger brother, Wajahat, was found standing on the side of Pervaiz. For background, Shujaat and Pervaiz are not only first cousins (their fathers were real brothers), but they are also brother-in-laws of each other. When the deal with Asif Zardari was being negotiated with Pervaiz as CM and Salik as federal minister together with Tariq Cheema, there was another demand: MNA Chaudhry Hussain Elahi, the son of Wajahat, would be the opposition leader in the National Assembly.

As Pervez joined the Imran Khan camp, the future of Hussain hang in the balance. Asif Zardari vetoed the proposal. He said he had promised Raja Riaz the slot of the opposition leader. This resulted in Wajahat parting ways with Shujaat and joining hands with Pervaiz. In a press conference a week before Eid-ul-Azha, he alleged that Salik had received dollars from Asif Zardari, an accusation that left Shujaat totally broken especially because it was coming from his younger brother.

The family friends struggled to reunite the Chaudhrys of Gujrat but it didn’t work. Shujaat tried to bridge the gap by announcing full support of Pervaiz Elahi in his bid for the CM office but the ice didn’t break.

The Eid was also celebrated amid standoff. Shujaat, according to one of his close confidantes, deplores that Pervaiz and Wajahat would keep him in dark on the matters related to political decision-making and therefore he was feeling sidelined. Shujaat didn’t have fond memories of Imran Khan either when he went to meet the latter in PM House on a wheelchair. Imran made an unguarded comment about Shujaat’s health condition after the meeting that Shujaat came to know through someone and was very upset to hear that.