Rana Faraz Noon, the newly elected member of the National Assembly from Lodhran, has reportedly declined an offer by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to switch sides.
According to sources close to Noon, he was approached by some members of the influential Gilani family from Multan, who paid him a visit at his outhouse on Sunday night and tried to lure him into joining the PPP. They also promised him a ministerial portfolio if the PPP managed to form the federal government.
The sources added that some senior leaders of the PPP also called Noon and attempted to persuade him to leave the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which had backed his candidacy in the elections held on February 08.
However, Rana Faraz Noon remained loyal to the PTI and rejected the PPP’s offer, saying that he was grateful to the PTI leadership and the people of Lodhran for their support and trust. Noon had won the NA-154 seat by securing 1,16,590 votes, defeating PPP’s Ali Musa Gilani, the son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who got 85,170 votes.