The political romance between the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Quad appears to have ended before blossoming.

The unannounced electoral alliance – or seat-to-seat adjustment – between them broke apart on Monday when both parties fielded candidates in same constituencies in Punjab against each other.Though the trust deficit between the two parties has existed for long, a recent development prompted the breakup. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the Punjab chapter president of PML-Q, plans to contest NA-105 Gujrat.

However, PPP candidate Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar refused to withdraw in Elahi’s favour. This strained relations between them and led to the breakup.On Monday, the PML-Q awarded 87 tickets for National Assembly constituencies across the country. Similarly, the party also finalised 137 candidates for provincial assembly constituencies of Punjab. The party will field candidates against all political groups.

Kamil Ali Agha, the central information secretary of PML-Q, confirmed on Monday that Elahi would run for NA-105.On the other hand, the PPP also issued party tickets to dozens of candidates in Punjab. PPP’s Shaukat Mehmood Basra said the PML-Q has fielded Tahir Bashir Cheema in NA-191 (Bahawalnagar). He also confirmed that there would be no electoral alliance or seat-to-seat adjustment between the PPP and PML-Q.

The PML-Q had joined the PPP-led coalition government and later the two parties agreed to contest the 2013 election as an alliance. However, together the two parties could not put up a serious challenge to the PML-N in the 2012 by-elections in Punjab.The PPP, then, suggested to its top leadership that an electoral alliance with the PML-Q will not benefit the party. Subsequently, the PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari reportedly scrapped the plan.