Who were the first female MNA, MPA elected from Lahore?

• Slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto won from NA-94 in 1988.
• Farhat's son Saad Rafique won the same seat in 2002.
• Begum Rehana elected in general elections from Lahore in 2002.

LAHORE: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto became the first female Member of National Assembly (MNA) to be elected from Lahore in 1988, while Begum Farhat Rafique was the first woman to be elected from the provincial capital in a general election in 1985, reported The News on Saturday.

From 1970 until 2023, a number of female politicians were elected as MNA from Lahore. These included Begum Kalsoom Nawaz, Samina Ghurki, Shazia Mubashir, and Shaista Pervaiz Malik.

However, the first woman ever who got elected in a general election from Lahore was Farhat Rafique, the mother of PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique. She got elected as MPA in the 1985 non-party basis elections from the walled city area from where her both sons — Saad and Salman have also served as MNA and MPA respectively. Her husband Khawaja M Rafique, who was known as a very active campaigner against PPP founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto also contested the National Assembly election in 1970 but lost.

Nevertheless, Begum Farhat Rafique won the election while she contested in 1985. Her son Saad Rafique won the same seat in 2002 but vacated it and retained the National Assembly seat. Her second son Salman Rafique won the same seat in 2008 by-polls.

Similarly, when it comes to being the first ever National Assembly seat winner from Lahore, it is slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto who won from NA-94 in the year 1988 and defeated Mian Umer Hayat. Benazir vacated this seat which PPP lost in the by-polls.

Samina Khalid Ghurki of PPP is the only woman who won two consecutive National Assembly elections from Lahore — in 2002 and in 2008. Begum Kalsoom Nawaz and Shaista Pervaiz Malik won the National Assembly seats in by-polls. However, Shaista Pervaiz Malik enjoys the unique distinction of winning the National Assembly seat while she was already a member of NA on reserved seats.

Begum Rehana Jamil is another woman who got elected in the general elections from Lahore in 2002. She got elected MPA on a PML-N ticket. Shazia Mubashir, the PML-N ticket holder got elected from NA-129 in the 2013 by-polls. Three women who got elected as MNAs in the by-polls include Shazia Mubashir, Begum Kalsoom Nawaz and Shaista Pervaiz Malik.