Soon after the PML-N emerged as the single largest party in May 11 general elections, many politicians who had won the elections as independent candidates rushed to Raiwind to express their new found love for the PML-N and its leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif.
A photo op and some chatting and they all joined the party. Mr Sharif too generously welcomed them to the fold.
This practice continued for quite a few days and resultantly out of the 27 candidates who returned to the National Assembly as independent candidates, 19 have by now joined the PML-N.
And these new PML-N lovers have only added to the parliamentary strength of the party, increasing its majority in the National Assembly to a strong 182.
But sadly these new members have not been able to win any favours in exchange of their act of allegiance.
Because the party does not need their votes to maintain its majority in the assembly, these members are not in a position to blackmail the PML-N party leadership.
Traditionally and as it happened in the past parliament, such independent candidates could demand their pound of flesh in exchange of their votes. From positions in the federal cabinet to lucrative advisorships, they could demand it all. However, this time around there is little room to bargain.
No wonder then that the PML-N has managed to keep its federal cabinet small and only awarded its loyalists. Only one independent candidate who later joined the party was able to make it to the cabinet – Jam Kamal Khan, from Lasbela, Balochistan has been made state minister for petroleum and natural resources.
As for the rest, the disappointment is writ large on their faces.
This is not to say they will not get any benefit whatsoever.
As part of the government they will be given preference when funds and development projects are doled out for constituencies. They will also be able to put in a word and get critical posts filled such as those in the local police stations in their areas. But nothing can compensate for the federal cabinet position they may have been hoping for.
Mohammad Raza Hayat Hiraj who won from Khanewal was one of the first independents who jumped over to the N shortly after the elections.
He had already been part of two federal cabinets in the past – in 2002 he had won the election from the PPPP platform but jumped ship along with the other patriots who were lured over by the then president General Pervez Musharraf.
For five years he enjoyed the perks of government. Though his party, the PML-Q lost the next elections, it was able to later join the government because the PPP was in desperate need of votes to shore up its numbers once the MQM dumped it. This allowed Hiraj to once again land a cabinet slot.
But come 2013 and he knew that there was little chance that the PML-Q was going to emerge as a strong party after the May elections and the future of the PPP too appeared uncertain. As a result he contested the elections independently probably with the aim that he would then join whichever party was in a strong position after the elections.
But his tactical politicking did not help him greatly.
In a similar position is Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari whose dreams also lay shattered.
The son of former president, the late President Farooq Leghari, was another one who headed for the N at the very last moment with dreams of perks.
With a strong personal vote bank in his pocket in the area of DG Khan, Leghari too could afford to pick and choose. He had earlier joined the PTI when it appeared that the party was on the rise.
But shortly before the elections he dumped the PTI and contested the elections independently. There were reports that the N had already agreed to support him unofficially in his constituency.
But apart from this undeclared support which may or may not have helped him, he was offered nothing even though he too joined the PML-N later.
For the time being he has to console himself with the fact that he sits on the right side of the aisle in the national assembly.
Other such hopefuls include Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar who won from Rahim Yar Khan. He too is said to have had an unofficial understanding that he would switch to the N after the elections.
Having served as a state minister under Musharraf, he had not won in 2008. But it seems that this time around too he would only have to settle for a seat in the parliament.
Another aspirant was Mohammad Siddique Khan Baloch who defeated Jahangir Khan Tareen, a leading light of the PTI, in Lodhran.
He too was an independent candidate, who joined the PML-N later but to no avail. Rumour has it that former prime minister Zafarullah Jamali also queued up at Raiwind with hope in his heart.
And it is not just Punjab that threw up politicians who hoped for a cabinet position in exchange for auctioning their loyalty in such a manner.
The Sheerazi brothers from Thatta, Sindh, who too ditched the PPP at the last minute due to disagreements over the distribution of tickets, are said to have hoped for a plum position.