Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz

Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz (Urdu/; born 8 October 1970) is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since February 2024 and previously served in this position from 2002 to 2007.

Born in Gujranwala, Bilal Ijaz was elected to the National Assembly in the 2002 general election as a Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) candidate from constituency NA-100 (Gujranwala-VI).

He contested the 2008 and 2013 general elections as a PML-Q and independent candidate, respectively, but was unsuccessful. In late 2014, Ijaz joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He contested in the 2018 election from NA-84 constituency but was defeated by Azhar Qayyum Nahra of the PML-N. He once again returned to the National Assembly after his victory in the 2024 elections.

From 2019 to 2022, he served as chairman of the Punjab Zakat and Ushr Council. He hails from the tehsil of Nowshera Virkan in Gujranwala District and belongs to the Rajput community. He graduated from the Forman Christian College in Lahore in 1997 and is an agriculturist by profession. and then thrice from his home constituency of NA-79 (Gujranwala-cum-Hafizabad) in 1988, 1993 and 1997.

Political career Ijaz entered politics following his father's death. His father was re-elected as an MNA of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) from NA-79 in the preceding 1997 general election, but died while in office. Ijaz left his party after the poll and began to tilt towards the PML-N. In 2010, Mudassar Qayyum Nahra's membership was suspended and his seat in NA-100 fell vacant after Ijaz filed a petition in an election tribunal of the Lahore High Court, seeking Nahra's disqualification over a fake degree case. In the petition, Ijaz invoked Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution and argued that Nahra was ineligible to hold public office. Ijaz did not contest in the by-election that followed; the seat was won by Chaudry Tussadiq Masud Khan, a PPP candidate who defeated Mudassar's brother and also the PML-N's designated candidate, Azhar Qayyum Nahra.

In the lead-up to the 2013 general election, Ijaz was tipped as a strong candidate in NA-100 alongside his main political opponents, Azhar Qayyum Nahra of the PML-N and Chaudry Tussadiq Masud Khan of the PPP. Nahra enjoyed the support of his Jatt community, while Ijaz was backed by the Rajput community. In November 2014, Ijaz joined the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and served as a senior core member of the party.

In the 2018 general election, he was fielded as the PTI's candidate for his newly delimited electorate of NA-84. Although the PTI won the election and was able to form both the federal and Punjab provincial governments, Ijaz was unsuccessful in his constituency. He received 89,943 votes and lost to the PML-N's Azhar Qayyum Nahra by a margin of around 30,000 votes (for the third time consecutively). The result was noted to be consistent with the PML-N's overall electoral dominance in Gujranwala District.

In the 2024 general election, he won a seat in the National Assembly. On 29 February, he was sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly. However, following a vote recount, his opponent was declared the winner. This notification, was cancelled by LHC later on though. In August 2024,Supreme Court of Pakistan nullified orders of Lahore High Court and disqualified him again.

Political appointments In April 2019, Ijaz was appointed as the chairman of the Punjab Zakat and Ushr Council by the provincial government of the Punjab. The primary function of the Zakat and Ushr Council is to collect the revenues obtained in Punjab from the Islamic taxes levied in Pakistan, known as zakat and ushr, and disburse these funds for the purposes of human and social development. In his role as chairman, Ijaz has officially coordinated and discharged these duties throughout the province.