Zubair Qureshi
After the Supreme Court’s late Saturday night decision stripping the PTI of electoral symbol ‘bat’, the District Returning Office (DRO) in Islamabad has allotted election symbols to the party’s candidates who are now contesting as ‘independent’ contestants from the NA-46, 47 and 48.
A total of 119 candidates are contesting from the three constituencies of the federal capital.
According to the list issued by the DRO, apart from the political parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) whose symbol is ‘tiger,’ the PPP (arrow), Jamaat-e-Islami (Tarazoo or weighing scale), the JUI-F (Book) the independent candidates are now allotted various symbols.
In NA-46, Amir Mehmood Mughal, PTI’s supported candidate, now an independent has been allotted ‘baingan’ or eggplant by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as election symbol.
In NA-47, ShoaibShaheen Advocate, a candidate of the PTI now contesting as independent has been allotted the symbol of ‘dove.’
From NA-48, the PTI-supported candidate Syed Ali Bukhari will contest the February 8 election on the symbol of parachute.
It may be mentioned here that Islamabad’s three constituencies have traditionally been recognized as the top favourite for the PTI and in the previous two elections PTI candidates have won from all the three with one exception of NA-48 where in 2013 elections, PML-N’s Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry had won. However in the 2018 elections the three seats went to the PTI candidates who are now no longer in the field.
According to the DRO of Islamabad, a total of 44 candidates will be vying for seats in NA-46, while 29 contenders from NA-46 have opted to run as independents in the elections. Sixteen candidates from various political parties will be trying their luck in NA-46.
Mustafain Kazmi, former spokesperson for the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, currently, an independent candidate is trying his luck from NA-46 and has been designated the election symbol of ”parachute.”
The NA-47 will witness the participation of 37 candidates, with 25 running independently and 12 representing different political parties. Notably, Chaudhry IlyasMehrban, an independent candidate, has been granted the symbol of a battery. Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar will step into the electoral arena from there also with the clock as his election symbol, while Nayyab Ali, a transgender candidate, will be represented by the green pepper symbol.
In NA-48, a total of 38 candidates will vie for seats, with 27 opting for independent candidacy. Additionally, 11 candidates from diverse political parties will enter the competition.
