Fida Hussnain Lahore
As many as 28 candidates including Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi submitted his nomination papers from the Punjab in the upcoming Senate elections on Saturday.
Among them, 16 candidates submitted nomination papers for the general seats, four for the technocrats seats, five for women seats and three for minorities.
The prominent figures include Talal Chaudhry and Mohsin Naqvi who submitted their nomination papers for the general seats. Muhammad Aurangzeb, Ijaz Minhas, Waleed Iqbal, Waseem Shahzad, Ahad Cheema, Parvez Rasheed and Hamid Khan also joined the race for the general seats.
Mohsin Naqvi is contesting as an independent candidate. As he reached to submit his nomination papers, PML-N leader and Provincial Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir, PPP leader Syed Haider Gillani, Chaudhary Shafiq
and Ghazanfar Abbas Cheena endorsed his nomination papers. They also accompanied Naqvi when reached the Returning Officer’s office to submit his nomination papers. As Saturday was the last day for submission of the nomination papers for the Senate slots, former caretaker prime minister Anwaarul Haq submitted his papers. For the two women’s seats, a total of five candidates put forward their papers including Sanam Javed, Faiza Ahmed, and Anush Rehman. Furthermore, three candidates entered the fray for the two technocrat seats, featuring prominent names including Dr. Yasmin Rashid and Mustafa Ramday. Tariq Javed and Asif Ashiq also submitted their nomination papers for the minority seat.
Earlier, the founder chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, approved the selection of candidates for the Senate elections. Among the prominent PTI members, 14 names were finalized directly by Imran Khan himself. Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, and Mirza Muhammad Afridi were the prominent ones competing for general seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Punjab, Hamid Khan and Zulfi Bukhari have been selected as candidates for general seats, with Yasmin Rashid nominated for the technocrat seat. Sanam Javed would represent PTI for the women’s seat from Punjab. Irfan Saleem, Khurram Zeeshan, and Azhar Mashwani are also in the race. For the technocrat seats, Azam Swati and Irshad Hussain were nominated while Ayesha Bano and Rubina Naz secured tickets for women’s seats.
