The district of Narowal was carved out of Sialkot district in 1991 and comprises Narowal city and Shakargarh tehsil. The city is located just a few kilometres from India, making it a smuggling hub. The Bara Bhai shrine in the district draws devotees from both India and Pakistan, while the Gurdwara Katarpur Sahib is visited by Sikh pilgrims from across the world.

The district is famous for producing high quality pulses and rice. It is also where celebrated Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born in the village of Kala Qadir.


Constituencies:

NA115:

Mohammad Naseer Khan won here by almost 5,000 votes in 2002, edging out Sumaira Rasheed Yasir, an independent candidate. Khan, who became federal health minister, came in for a rude shock when his nomination for this seat was rejected because he did not possess a valid bachelor’s degree. But an election tribunal of the Lahore High Court later accepted his appeal. Yasir will again challenge Khan from this seat in January but as a PMLN candidate. The PPP is fielding Chaudhry Tariq Ashraf Kahloon.

NA116:

The PMLQ’s Daniyal Aziz won this seat in 2002 against independent candidate Mohammad Tariq Anees. Daniyal Aziz’s father Chaudhry Anwar Aziz won this seat in the 1985 and 1988 elections. Daniyal Aziz is heading the National Reconstruction Bureau, the official body overseeing local governments. Anees is again running against him as an independent candidate. Gulzar Ahmed of the PPP and Hafiz Shabbir of the PMLN are also in the race. The two parties fared very badly in the last elections.

NA117:

Riffat Javed of the PMLQ trounced the PMLN’s Ahsan Iqbal by 16,000 votes here in 2002, with the help of her husband Javed Safdar Kahloon, who was then district nazim. Iqbal, who is the PMLN’s information secretary, and Kahloon will face off against each other in January. The PPP has fielded Ibn-e-Saeed Chaudhry. Singer Ibrarul Haq’s brother, Major (retd) Israrul Haq, is also contesting this seat as an independent candidate. He is banking on the goodwill earned through a charity hospital the two brothers are running in the area.