ECP again alters Pindi’s constituencies

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has once again changed the seats and the numbering for the constituencies of the Rawalpindi district ahead of the general elections to be held on February 8, 2024.

Despite the increase in the number of votes and population in the district in the fresh delimitations, one provincial seat of the Rawalpindi district has been reduced while the National Assembly seats have remained intact.

According to the new constituencies, one provincial seat has been reduced, leaving seven National Assembly and 14 provincial assembly seats in the Rawalpindi district.

Meanwhile, the numbering of the national and provincial assembly seats has also been changed. Former home minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan’s NA constituency has been changed from NA-59 to NA-53. The constituency will cover Chakri, Chak Baili Khan, Adhawal, Banda, Bisali and UC 29 to 34 of the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation.

Similarly, former home minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s old constituency has been changed from NA-62 Lal Haveli to NA-56. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi’s old constituency NA-60 has been changed to NA-57 and the old constituency of Rawalpindi Cantt has been changed from NA-61 to NA-55.

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According to a notification issued by the ECP, the NA constituencies of Rawalpindi will start from Malika-e-Kohsar Murree. As Murree became a new district, its national and provincial seats have been included in the notification under the name of a separate district. If the Murree district seats are separated, the NA seats in the Rawalpindi district will be reduced to six and the provincial assembly seats to 12.

The Murree constituency will now be NA-51 comprising Murree, Kotli Sattian and the new Murree district along with two more Tehsils Kahuta and Kallar Sayedan of District Rawalpindi. The provincial seat of the new Murree district will consist of PP-6 of the entire district of Murree, while PP-7 will comprise of Kahita and Kallar Syedan.

NA-52 Gujjar Khan, which is the NA constituency of Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf, will consist of Tehsil Gujjar Khan and its provincial seats will be PP-8 and PP-9. NA-53 Chakri Rawalpindi's suburban constituency will have provincial seats of PP-10 and PP-11.

NA-54 Taxila – the constituency of former minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan – will have provincial seats of PP-11 and PP-12. The Union councils of Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation have also been included in PP-11 in the fresh delimitation.

Further, the old number of Taxila’s NA constituency was 63, which has now been changed to 54. The constituency of Rawalpindi Cantonment has been made NA-55 and its provincial seats will be PP-13 and PP-14. UCs of Taxila tehsil have also been included in PP-13.

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The old constituency of PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi and Sheikh Rashid Shafiq – Rawalpindi City – has been changed from NA-60 to NA-57. Its provincial seats will now be PP-18 and PP-19. The constituency of Lal Haveli will be NA-56 with PP-16 and PP-17 as provincial seats.

Workers and candidates of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PML-N have rejected the fresh delimitation of Rawalpindi’s suburban constituencies of NA-53 and NA-54 and have filed appeals against them.

The candidates contend that it is illegal to include the Rawalpindi city and Cantt areas in the Taxila constituency. Candidates from these two constituencies are stuck in a dilemma as to how they will campaign in Taxila and Rawalpindi city simultaneously.

The old provincial seat PP-15 of Rawalpindi district has been abolished and merged into the existing new constituencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2023.