Chaudhry Abid Raza

Chaudhry Abid Raza (Urdu: چوہدری عابد رضا; born 2 September 1972) is a Pakistani politician. He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023, and from June 2013 to May 2018.

Chaudhry Abid Raza
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office 13 August 2018 – 10 August 2023
Constituency	NA-71 (Gujrat-IV)
In office 1 June 2013 – 31 May 2018
Constituency	NA-107 (Gujrat-IV)
Personal details
Born	(1972-09-02) 2 September 1972 (age 51) Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Muslim League (N) (2008-present)

Early life and education

Abid Raza was born on 2 September 1972 in Kotla Arab Ali Khan, Kharian, Gujrat District.^[1] His father was elected chairman UC Kotla in the 60s, his family being well-known in local politics.

He belongs to a Punjabi Gujjar family with Deobandi affiliation.^[2]

In terms of education, he has a Shahadat-ul-Almia degree, considered an equivalent to an MA in Arabic and Islamic Studies, while by profession he's a rice trader.^[3]

Political career

Militant politics

He has been handed down a death sentence through an anti-terror act in 1998, for murdering six peoples in an attempt to assassinate Ghulam Sarwar Bhooch, the nizam of Gujrat and a family rival, as well as having links with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba, while in 2003 he was accused of helping Amjad Farooqi, an Islamist who planned to kill Musharraf. He denied all these allegations and connections with militant outfits, while he didn't get the death sentence because he spent five years in jail and was released after reconciling with the opposing party, as per Islamic law.^[4]

Mainstream politics

Raza began his political career with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) where he served in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab until 2008. His family joined PML-Q in 2003. He joined Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) in 2008.^[5] Hamza Shahbaz Sharif is supposed to be the one who pushed his inclusion in the PML-N despite the controversies, "to appease the Kotlas."^[6]

He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-107 (Gujrat-IV) in 2013.^{[7][8][9][10][11]} He received 94,196 votes and defeated Chaudhry Muhammad Ilyas, a candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).^[12]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-71 (Gujrat-IV) in 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 88,588 votes and defeated Muhammad Ilyas Chaudhry, a candidate of PTI.^[13]

See more

• List of Deobandis

References

1. . 21 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
2. Warraich, Shehryar (15 July 2018). . The News International. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Chaudhry Abid Raza Gujjar became PML-N MNA from Gujrat in 2013 [...]
3. . PoliticPK. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023.
4. "LeJ terror suspect contesting on PML-N ticket" (6 May 2013), The News International. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
5. Azeem, Muhammad (18 March 2013). "Man having links with banned outfit may get PML-N ticket".
6. Muhammad Azeem (18 March 2013), "Man having links with banned outfit may get PML-N ticket", Dawn News. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
7. . Geo TV. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
8. "Tough contest between N, PPP in NA-107". The Nation. from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
9. "Democratic terror". The Nation. from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
10. "Crushing defeats deal a severe blow to PPP". The Nation. from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
11. "SC restores death sentence of PML-N MNA". The Nation. from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
12. (PDF). ECP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
13. "PML-N's Chaudhary Abid Raza wins NA-71 election". Associated Press Of Pakistan. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.