Zubair Qureshi
Unlike other constituencies of the National Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates for the three National Assembly seats (NA-46, 47 and 48) in Islamabad have received somewhat lukewarm response and two prominent members, a former minister in the Imran Khan government and an MNA—Aamer Mehmood Kiani and Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz—were cleared in the security process by Returning Officers for NA-46 and NA-47 Kamran Ali Cheema and Usman Ashraf.
Both Kiani and Khurram Shahzad are contesting elections from the NA-46 and NA-47 respectively. Raja Khurram, however, has also submitted his papers from the NA-48 and there too, his papers have been cleared by RO Muhammad Abdullah Mahmood.
Similarly, another noted political personality, a veteran politician Babar Awan is also cleared from the NA-46 and NA-47. His son Abdullah Babar Awan is also an aspirant candidate from these two constituencies and stands cleared.
Contrary to this breather, Shoaib Shaheen, one of the PTI chairman Imran Khan’s spokespersons and a leading lawyer stands rejected from all the three constituencies of Islamabad. Similarly, another towering leader of the PTI Aamir Mughal’s papers have been rejected by the Returning Officer of the NA-46. Among those hailing from or claiming allegiance to the PTI, whose papers were not cleared in the scrutiny process included Chaudhry Ilays Mehrban of the PTI (NA-48), Syed Mustafain Kazmi (NA-47) and Advocate Niazullah Niazi (NA-48). Former Members of the National Assembly and members of the PTI government cabinet Asad Umar and Ali Nawaz Awan have decided to stay away from the general elections of February 8, this year.
A prominent member of the PTI legal team and a diehard party worker, SardarMasroof Khan’s nomination papers have been accepted for the NA-46 and after rejection of Shoaib Shaheen and Amir Mughal’s papers, stakes are high in his favour. I have submitted my last five years tax returns and all my utility bills’ and property tax details, said Sardar Masroof while talking to Pakistan Observer.
Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, in a tweet declared he was going to challenge the RO’s decision of rejecting his papers. I am hopeful that after the due course of law, my papers would be accepted, he said in a tweet on social media platform ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter).
Meanwhile, nomination papers of the former MNAs of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Anjum Aqeel Khan and Dr Tariq FazalChaudhry from NA-46 and NA-47 have also been accepted. Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry is also contesting elections from the NA-48 constituency of Islamabad by RO Muhammad Abdullah Mahmood. Former Mayor of the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation Sheikh Anser Aziz and Deputy Mayor Syed Zeeshan Naqvi have also been cleared from the NA-46 and NA-47, both of them are the members of the PML-N.
It is interesting to note that brother of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwarts Raja Imran Ashraf along with his son Muhammad Dilawar Imran has filed nomination papers from the NA-46 constituency and their papers have been cleared by RO Kamran Ali Cheema.
