Shehla Raza, Rauf Siddiqui, Ali Raza Abidi submit party tickets

Farooq Sattar withdraws from NA-241, ANP candidate pulls back in favour of Irfanullah Marwat

KARACHI: A large number of candidates of political parties submitted on Friday party certificates, commonly known as tickets, to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the allotment of party symbols. Friday was the last day for submitting tickets and withdrawing from the contest.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Shehla Raza and Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan (MQM-P) leaders Dr Farooq Sattar, Rauf Siddiqui and Ali Raza Abidi were among candidates who submitted party tickets on Friday. Raza submitted PPP ticket for NA-243, while Dr Sattar submitted the MQM-P ticket for NA-245 and NA-247. Rauf Siddiqui filed MQM-P certificate to contest elections from NA-244 and NA-213 Shaheed Benazirabad, while Abidi applied for MQM-P symbol for NA-243.

PPP Malir president Ghulam Murtaza Baloch submitted ticket for PS-88 and actor Ayub Khosso submitted PPP certificate for PS-101.

PPP candidates Rana Shahid and Sajid Jokhio submitted tickets for PS-92 and PS-87 respectively. PTI's Sardar Qadir Bakhsh Gabol and MQM-P's Khalida Ateeb also submitted their party certificates for the allotment of symbols.



Farrukh Niyaz Tanoli and Haji Sharaaft Ali, PPP candidates for NA-245 and NA-242 respectively, also submitted their tickets to the concerned returning officers.

Withdrawals

In the meantime, many candidates withdrew their nominations. PPP's Muzaffar Sajrah, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Nasir Jamal, Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's (PML-N) Abdul Rahim Shah withdrew their nomination papers from NA-238.

Dr Sattar withdrew his papers from NA-241, while Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Noorullah Achakzai withdrew papers from PS-104.

ANP leader Noorullah Achakzai withdrew papers from PS-104 in favour of Irfanullah Marwat.

According to an ECP spokesperson, the commission will start allotting symbols to the candidates today (Saturday).

More than 57,000 polling stations will be established in the province for the elections, in which 216,108 government employees will perform election duties. The ECP has also appointed monitoring officers across Sindh to take action against candidates and parties violating the ECP code of conduct.