Introduction

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is the 19th and current Chief Minister of Punjab. He took the oath of Chief Minister of Punjab on July 27, 2022 at Aiwan-e-Sadr Islamabad. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab since August

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi


Professional Achievements

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is the 19th and current Chief Minister of Punjab. He took the oath of Chief Minister of Punjab on July 27, 2022 at Aiwan-e-Sadr Islamabad. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab since August 2018. He has the honour to be the first Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan.
 
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was born on 1st November 1945 in Gujrat. He studied at Forman Christian College University Lahore, completed graduation in 1967, and obtained a diploma in Industrial Management from the University of Oxford.
 
His father Chaudhry Manzur Elahi was the elder brother of late Chaudhry Zahur Elahi. Chaudhry Manzur Elahi left his hometown Gujrat in 1939 to pursue further studies. He received his degree in textile engineering from Amritsar in 1940.
 
Upon his return from Amritsar, Chaudry Manzur Elahi teamed up with his brother Chaudhry Zahur Elahi to develop their textile business. In 1947-48, he Established two textile units under the names of Gujrat Silk Mills and Pakistan Textile Mills. In 1950, the business was expanded to Lahore where they established Parvez Textile Mills, specializing in weaving, finishing and dyeing.
 
In 1951-52, Chaudhry Manzur Elahi went to Japan to import textile machinery for his Gujrat and Lahore units. Armed with his textile education and superior business ethics, Chaudry Manzur Elahi’s textile units continued to flourish under his leadership. The family continued to dedicate their energies to their business and set up Modern Flour Mills in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
 
Ch. Pervaiz Elahi became chairman of the Gujrat district council in 1983 and has been serving as an MPA (Member of Provincial Assembly) of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab since 1985. He served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development during 1985-88, 1988–90 and 1990-93. He was Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly during 1993-96, and also the Leader of the Opposition later. He was the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly during 1997-99.
 
In 1987, the family diversified into the sugar industry. They set up two sugar mills, at Mian Channu (Khanewal) and at Phalia (Mandi Bahauddin). The family also expanded their textile business by entering spinning and cotton yarn in 1990-91 and consequently set up two separate units in Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin.
 
In 1997 when the interim Government announced that no one would be allowed to contest in the elections without clearing their loans, the family faced serious financial problems. They managed to sell their sugar and cotton yarn in advance for coming two years at lower rates to repay their loans. From 1993-97, several alleged cases were registered against Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. He was detained in Adiyla Jail Rawalpindi for several months.
 
In the elections of 2002, he was elected for a sixth consecutive term from two constituencies, PP 110 (Gujrat) and PP 292 (Rahim Yar Khan). On November 29, 2002, he was inducted as the Chief Minister of Punjab, serving until November 22, 2007, when the five-year mandate ended for the provincial assembly of Punjab.
 
He has been praised for making great contributions to agriculture and irrigation, education, health, IT, public sector development, infrastructure, supply of gas and electricity and law and order while serving as Chief Minister of Punjab. These steps were endorsed and appreciated by various donor agencies such as World Bank.
 
For the first time in Punjab, all citizens were offered all levels of health care and medical facilities completely free of cost. Thousands of water courses were bricklined. For the first time in Lahore, traffic was controlled by traffic wardens. Even his most fierce rivals have acknowledged his work.
 
His other notable achievements include setting up of Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology in Multan, University of Gujrat in Gujrat, Traffic Wardens system in Lahore, Rescue 1122 service in Punjab, water course brick lining and Lahore Ring Road Project.
 
In the February 2008 parliamentary election, Ch. Pervaiz Elahi ran for the National Assembly as a PML-Q candidate, and it was believed that the party wanted him to become Prime Minister after the election. He ran for the seats NA-58 in Attock, NA-61 in Chakwal, and NA-187 in Bahawalpur. After the election, he was reported to have won the National Assembly seat in Attock but lost the other two. He was leader of the opposition in the National Assembly untill 14 September 2008.
 
He secured his victory in general elections in 2013. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-Q from Constituency NA-65 and NA-69 in 2018 general election. In the same election, he was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab as a candidate of PML-Q from Constituency PP-30 (Gujrat-III). Following his successful election, he abandoned his national assembly seats in favour of the provincial assembly seat.
 
He was named by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PML-Q as their joint candidate for the office of Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab. On 16 August 2018, he was re-elected as Speaker of the Punjab Assembly.