And the PPP's record of coalition-making is better than that of PML-N, he says.
PML-N officials said he was holding talks with some independent MPs to work out cabinet positions.
Ms. Nawaz would only say that she is content being a "worker" for the PML-N.
PML-N won all 11 parliament seats in Lahore in the 2008 election, which PTI had boycotted.
Another cousin, Omar Ayub Khan, is running with the PML-N for Haripur's seat in national parliament.
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Behind her, a giant PML-N poster showed Mr. Sharif and pictures of striped big cats.
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PML-N under Sharif received a huge public mandate in 1997 and formed a government with two-thirds majority.
PML-N's leaders, it is doubtful they could have produced much of a multitude to greet Mr Sharif.
Shahbaz Sharif has consulted his brother, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, ahead of the meeting with the prime minister.
While opinion polls predict that Mr. Sharif's PML-N will garner the most seats, it is unlikely to win an outright majority.
Should such predictions roughly hold true, PML-N would likely need to seek the support of coalition partners to form a government.
The PML-N administration set itself apart from other provincial governments with initiatives that critics called populist gimmicks but that gained public attention.
PML-N's ambitious election manifesto pledges to double economic growth from the 3% seen in recent years, hugely increase tax revenue and damp inflation.
Diplomats say that a PML-N alliance with PPP, the former ruling party, could be a possibility if Mr. Khan's PTI does particularly well.
The area has long been dominated by the PML-N, which won all 11 national Parliament seats in Lahore in the last election, in 2008.
Sharif and the PML-N should be congratulated on winning big, especially with so much hype in Punjab over Imran Khan, the famed politician and cricket star.
As the cheers outside grew louder with every new parliament seat called for PML-N, aides occasionally brought in children who wanted to take snapshots with the politicians.
Analysts say that although the PPP and PML-N worked together to hound Mr Musharraf from office, there is a history of intense rivalry and mistrust between the two main parties.
Sharif will also need to strengthen his party's links to economic and political stakeholders outside of Punjab, where the PML-N has a smaller presence than the other regional parties.
"In the business community, there is optimism, there is big buoyancy, " said Sartaj Aziz, PML-N's senior vice president who served as finance minister in Mr. Sharif's two previous governments.
According to the country's election commission, PML-N was confirmed as the winner in 123 constituencies out of the 272, former ruling Pakistan People's Party in 37 and Mr. Khan's PTI in 26.
Nawaz Sharif, who leads the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and is tipped to be Pakistan's next prime minister, made an impassioned plea to crowds in Lahore just minutes before midnight on Thursday.
The PML-N - which rules Punjab province with the support of Mr Gilani's PPP - was a partner in the central government's ruling alliance, but withdrew two years ago because of political differences.
In the previous elections in 2008, PML-N once again won control over the government of Punjab, the richest of the country's four provinces, with Mr. Sharif's younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, serving as chief minister.
Permitted by Musharraf to return to Pakistan last year, Sharif is now banking the PML-N's fortunes on a platform of renewing the country's top judiciary -- removed by Musharraf during a state of emergency.
In the previous election he voted for PML-N.
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Even if his PML-N does not have an outright majority, its projected margin of victory suggests it will be in a much stronger position than the PPP was at the head of the outgoing coalition.
In a parallel development, the PML-N party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - ousted by Gen Musharraf when he took power in a coup in 1999 - has challenged Mr Musharraf's eligibility to contest elections.
Both Mr. Sharif's PML-N and Mr. Khan's PTI draw much of their support from Punjab, the country's wealthiest province, and the election is particularly hard-fought in Lahore, the provincial capital and the country's second largest city.
WSJ: Irregularities at Polls, Strong Turnout as Pakistan Votes
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