Aitezaz Ahsan announced at the Rawalpindi Bar that he will be contesting the by-election from NA-55. In fact, he and his fellow lawyers moved on to submit his nomination papers as well. While, Asif Zardari has already expressed his willingness to contest from the same constituency. The rift between Aitezaz and Zardari is not hidden by any means. The interview with Dr. Shahid Masood was a demo.

Speaking of NA-55, the “great” Imran Khan has also announced his plans of contesting the election from the famous constituency of NA-55 which is left open by Javed Hashmi and which used to be considered as an unbeatable seat of Sheikh Rasheed.

Since the seat is left by a PML-N candidate, the new nominee must have the backing of Nawaz (as agreed by the coalition partners). Apparently, Aitezaz does.  But it does look awkward with Zardari and Aitezaz. [Update: Aitezaz is contesting as an independent]

In an old interview Sheikh Rasheed said that he may consider running for by-elections. With so many power horses already in the race, not-so-good start of the new government and the chances of votes splitting, Sheikh Rasheed may have a slim chance of taking advantage (if he runs for it).

We’ll have to wait and see. But not for long. The wait has been prolonged. By-elections delayed by 2 months!