As many as 581 candidates are vying for 22 National Assembly seats in Karachi, according to the final list of candidates issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The final list was issued by the electoral body after passing the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers by the candidates for the general elections, scheduled to take place on February 8. Leaders and workers of various political and religious parties as well as those willing to contest the Feb 8 elections as independent candidates have already launched their election campaign in the city.
Aa per the ECP list of candidates, the highest number of aspirants, 120, are contesting the election for the four NA seats in district East, followed by 113 vying for five NA seats in district Central of the port city. 87 candidates are contesting polls on three NA seats in Korangi, 76 on three seats of district South, 72 on three NA seats in district West, 65 in the run on three NA seats in district Malir and 48 candidates are contesting elections on two NA seats in district Keamari. Karachi’s first constituency is NA-229, where 15 candidates, including PPP’s Jam Abdul Karim Bajar, PML-N’s Qadir Bakhsh, MQM-Pakistan’s Fauzia Hameed, ANP’s Sajid Mehmood, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mumtaz Hussain, TLP’s Muhammad Ejaz, Markazi Muslim League’s Abdul Rahim, and PTI candidate Wali Muhammad. Independents Bakht Amin Shah, Shazia Sabohi, Shahid Hussain, Sher Muhammad, Iram Wahab Butt, Junaid Anwar, and Farooq Khan are also in the race.
In NA-230, PPP’s Syed Rafiulalh, PML-N’s Muzaffar Ali Shujra, Dr Masroor Sial of the PTI, Aurangzeb Farooqui of Pakistan Rah-i-Haq Party and others are in the field. In NA-231, Abdul Hakeem Baloch of PPP, Jameel Ahmed Khan of PML-N, Dr Masroor Sial and Umer Farooq of the JI are among the candidates. There are three National Assembly seats from Korangi district. Muttahida Qaumi Movement- Pakistan’s Aasia Ishaq and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Taufeeq Siddiqui are prominent among many candidates in NA-232. MQM-P Javed Hanif, JI’s Abdul Jameel Khan and others are contesting polls on NA-233.
On NA-234, PML-N’s Saleem Zia, Moin Amer Pirzada of the MQM-P, former PTI’s MNA Faheem Khan, PPP’s Ali Rashid and others will try their luck. National Assembly seats from NA-235 to 238 fall in Karachi’s East district. JI’s Meraj-ul-Huda Siddiqui, MQM-P’s Mohammad Iqbal Khan, former PTI MNA Saif-ur-Rahman and many other candidates are vying for NA-235. PTI leader Syed Firdous Shamim Naqvi, MQM-P’s Hassan Sabir, JI’s Osama Razi, PPP’s Muzammil Qureshi are among the contestants on NA-236. On the NA-237 seat, MQM-P’s Rauf Siddiqui is in the run against JI’s Irfan Ahmed, PPP’s Asad Niazi and PTI’s Zahoor Mehsud. PTI’s Sindh chief Haleem Adil Sheikh is contesting from NA-238, now as an independent candidate against MQM-P’s Sadiq Iftikhar and Saifuddin of the JI and others.
From NA-239, Nabil Gabol of the PPP, Fazal-ur-Rehman Niazi of the JI and others are contenting. On NA-240, Dr Arshad Vohra of the MQM-P, PPP’s Saleem Mandviwalla, Syed Abdul Rasheed of the JI, Haleem Adil Sheikh’s brother Aleem Adil and several others will contest the election. Dr Farooq Sattar of the MQM-P is also in run from NA-241 against Mirza Ikhtiar Baig of the PPP, PTI’s Karachi president Khurram Sher Zaman and others. Syed Mustafa Kamal of the MQM-P is running for NA-242 against PPP’s Qadir Mandokhail, Khawaja Shoaib of the PML-N, Fazal Ahad of the JI and others. At NA-243, Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP, PML-N’s Akhtar Jadoon, Shiraz Jadoon of the JI.
