ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of candidates will vie for 16 National Assembly (NA) and 26 provincial assembly (PA) seats in the four provinces and the Federal Capital during in by-elections scheduled for August 22 (Thursday).
The by-polls are being held for National Assembly seats of NA-1 Peshawar-I, NA-05 Nowshera-I, NA-13 Swabi-II, NA-25 D.I Khan-cum-Tank, NA-27 Lakki Marwat, NA-48 Islamabad-I, NA-68 Sargodha-V, NA-71 Mianwali-I, NA-83 Faisalabad-IX, NA-103 Hafizabad-II, NA-129 Lahore-XII, NA-177 Muzaffargarh-II, NA-235 Sanghar-II, NA-237 Thatta-I, NA-254 Karachi East-XVI and NA-262 Killa Abdullah.
The election will be conducted on seats vacated by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Jamshed Dasti, Javed Hashmi, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chaudhry Monis Elahi, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmed, Mian Moeen Wattoo, Saddique Khan Baloch, Sardar Zulfikar Khosa, Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood, Khusro Bakhtiar and other candidates.
In NA-1 Peshawar-I, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour of the Awami National Party (ANP) and Gul Badshah of the PTI are contesting along with 10 other candidates.In NA-5 Nowshera-I, ANP’s Daud Khan Khattak, PTI’s Imran Khattak of PTI and four other candidates are facing each other.In NA-13 Swabi-II, 10 candidates are in the run and in NA-25 D.I Khan-cum-Tank 16 candidates, including former National Assembly Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi.In NA-27 Lakki Marwat, Attaur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Amirullah of the PTI are among 14 contestants.
In NA-48 Islamabad-I, an interesting contest is expected between Asad Umar, who will try to retain seat for the PTI, and Chaudhry Ashraf Gujjar of the PML-N. Twenty other candidates are also in the field.In NA-68 Sargodha-V, Sardar Shafqat Hayat of the PML-N, Malik Nazir Ahmad Sobhi of the PTI, Sardar Ali Abbas Khan of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and seven independent candidates are vying for the seat.In NA-71 Mianwali-I, Obaidullah Khan Shadi Khel of the PML-N, Malik Waheed Khan of the PTI, Shaukat Pervez Khan of the PPP and five other candidates are competing each other.
In NA-83 Faisalabad-IX, Mian Abdul Manan (PML-N), Faizullah Kamoka (PTI), Mumtaz Ali Cheema (PPP) and eight other party affiliated and independent candidates are in the run.In NA-103 Hafizabad-II, Shahid Hussain Bhatti of the PML-N is contesting against Shaukat Ali Bhatti of the PTI and Zakaullah of the PPP, besides four independents.In NA-129 Lahore-XII, Shazia Mubashar (PML-N), Muhammad Mansha (PTI), Muhammad Ashraf Bhatti (PPP) and 12 other candidates are in the fray.
In NA-177, Ghulam Rabbani Khar of the PPP, Shahid Mustafa Qureshi of the PTI and 19 other candidates are in the field.In NA-235 Sanghar-II, Shazia Mari of the PPP is contesting against Khuda Bux of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) and 11 other candidates.In NA-237 Thatta-I, Shamus-ul-Nisa Memom (PPP), Syed Riaz Hussain Shah (PML-N) and 16 other candidates are facing each other. In NA-254 Karachi East-XVI, Mian M Ilyas Rasheed (PML-N), Muhammad Ali Rashid (MQM), Muhammad Naeem (PTI) and 12 other candidates are in the run.
In NA-262 Killa Abdullah, Qari Muhammad Shair Ali (JUI-F), Haji Molvi Mohammad Hanif of (JUI-N), Abdul Qahar Khan Wadan (PkMAP) and Haji Waris Khan Achakzai (PML-N) along with seven other candidates will contest for the seat. Elections will take place on four seats of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly including PK-23 Mardan-I, PK-27 Mardan-V, PK-42 Hangu-I and PK-70 Bannu-I.Ten seats of the Punjab Provincial Assembly PP-06 Rawalpindi-VI, PP-51 Faisalabad-I, PP-118 Mandi Bahauddin-III, PP-123 Sialkot-III, PP-142 Lahore-VI, PP-150 Lahore-XIV, PP-161 Lahore-XXV, PP-193 Okara-IX, PP-210 Lodhran-IV, PP-217 Khanewal (fresh election), PP-243 Dera Ghazi Khan-IV, PP-247 Rajanpur-I, PP-254 Muzaffargarh-IV (fresh election), PP-289 Rahim Yar Khan-V and PP-292 Rahim Yar Khan-VII are up for grabs.Elections will be fought on four seats of the Sindh Provincial Assembly including PS-12 Shikarpur, PS-64 Mirpurkhas-I, PS-95 Karachi West-VII and PS-103 Karachi Central-XV and three seats of the Balochistan Provincial Assembly including PB-29 Naseerabad-II, PB-32 Jhal Magsi and PB-44 Lasbela-I. – APP
