The scrutiny and verification process for the candidates in constituencies NA-14 Mansehra and NA-15 were in full swing on Friday.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarian (PTIP) candidate for NA-14 and NA-15 Saleh Muhammad, along with his enthusiastic supporters presented himself before Returning Officers. Following rigorous examination, his nomination papers were approved for participation in the electoral race.
Simultaneously, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate, Zargul Khan, also underwent the scrutiny process for NA-15. The diligent assessment led to the acceptance of Zargul Khan’s papers, solidifying his position as a contender in the electoral arena. It is worth mentioned here that Overall 28,626 candidates for both national and provincial assemblies submitted their nomination papers – 7,913 for the 266 general seats of the National Assembly and 18,546 for the 593 general seats of the four provincial assemblies.
The numbers are way more than the nomination papers filed in the 2018 general elections. In the previous election five year ago a total of 21,482 nomination papers were submitted, including 5,473 for the general seats of the National Assembly.
In addition to the general seats, nomination papers were submitted for women and minority specific seats. According to the ECP data, 459 women have filed nomination papers for the 60 reserved seats for women in the National Assembly.
Additionally, 140 male and 10 female candidates are vying for the 10 minority seats. Apart from this, 358 nomination papers were submitted for three general and specific seats of the National Assembly from Islamabad.
A province-wise breakdown of the number showed that 208 candidates were contesting from Islamabad and 3,871 from Punjab for the National Assembly seats, compared with 2,700 candidates who submitted their nomination papers for the National Assembly seats from Punjab and Islamabad in 2018.
In Sindh in 2018, 1,346 candidates filed their nomination papers, while 1681 candidates were in the contest in the upcoming elections. A similar trend is witnessed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), where the candidates for the February 8, 2024 election was 1,322 compared with 992 in 2018. In Balochistan 631 aspirants came forward to the National Assembly contest, while the number in 2018 was 435.
