Pindi all set to embrace Feb 8 polls

RAWALPINDI:

Like other districts, the Rawalpindi district is all set to step into the electoral battle for seven National Assembly (NA) and 14 Punjab Assembly (PA) seats with 609 candidates in the fray for the February 8 polls.

As many as 188 candidates are contesting for NA seats, while 421 candidates are face-to-face for 14 provincial seats. A total of 3,602,198 (3.6 million) voters, including 1,857,912 men 1,744,336 women, and 213 transpersons, will choose their representatives by using their right to vote.

A total of 2,671 polling stations have been set up, including 989 for males, 964 for females and 718 joint polling stations. 56 polling stations fall under category A out of 172 polling stations, which have been declared sensitive.

All returning officers (ROs) will distribute polling boxes and polling stationery among 2,671 polling officers (POs) at 10am today (Wednesday). The POs and police have already taken control of their respective polling stations.

Seven former ministers, including two ex-interior ministers Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, one former speaker of the National Assembly, one former deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, and ex-prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf are running in these elections. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is outside the electoral arena this time. Several new faces are also in the run for the national and provincial assembly seats as independent candidates.

All political parties carried out their last meeting and concluded public rallies on Tuesday (the last day for canvassing). The PML-N took out the final rally at Committee Chowk, the PPP in Raja Bazaar, while the JIP and the TLP also organised their rallies. Though the PTI candidates weren’t permitted to hold the last electoral rallies, they showed their dominating presence in the streets and neighbourhoods of their constituencies. The candidates of all political party candidates have made tall claims of success.

Leading electoral contests will take place in NA-56, NA-52, and NA-54 on Feb 8. Sheikh Rashid of AML, Hanif Abbasi of the PML-N, Samira Gul of the PPP, and PTI-affiliated Shehryar Riaz will try their luck to grab the NA-56 seat. The PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf, The PML-N’s Raja Javed Ikhlas, the TLP’s Chaudhry Riyaz, and PTI-affiliated Raja Tariq Aziz Bhatti are competing in the NA-52.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th 2024.