October 2, 2002	Wednesday	Rajab 24, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: As many as 99 candidates for the National Assembly and 231 for the provincial assemblies are contesting elections with the symbol crescent but little is known about the group’s objectives and leader.

The existence of the group, which reportedly has reach in the echelons of power, was unknown until Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Secretary-General Mairaj Mohammad Khan disclosed its existence in his statement and then the PTI downloaded the list of such candidates from the website of the Election Commission.

Some known figures, including former federal minister and a close confidant of President Gen Musharraf, Abbas Sarfaraz Khan, and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Rawalpindi, are contesting on National Assembly seats with crescent as their symbol. They are patronising some provincial assembly candidates under the same symbol.

Interestingly, Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) has not fielded its candidates on some seats where potential winners are contesting with crescent as their symbols in Rawalpindi, Mardan and Kohistan.

For NA-49, Islamabad, no candidate of PML-QA is contesting against a strong ‘crescent’ candidate, Mustafa Khokhar, son of former NA speaker Haji Nawaz Khokhar, who was denied ticket by the People’s Party Parliamentarians.

Another key candidate of the ‘crescent group’ is Ghulam Sarwar Khan for NA-53, Rawalpindi, who returned the PPP ticket and decided to contest as an independent candidate.

For NA-176, Muzaffargarh, Meeladi Khar, son of former Punjab governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar, is contesting as a crescent candidate with another former federal mistier, Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Anwar, in field from NA-192, Rahim Yar Khan.

Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, another former minister also chose not to contest on a PPP ticket and is contesting with crescent as his symbol from Jacobabad.

Another former federal minister, Syed Ali Mardan Shah, is contesting as crescent candidate from NA-228, Mirpurkhas. But most startling is entry of a confidant of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Mian Ejaz Shafi, in the alleged pro-government independent group. He is contesting for NA-246, Karachi West.

In Dadu, grandson of late nationalist leader G.M. Syed, Syed Jalal Mehmood, is contesting as a crescent candidate.

The secrecy maintained in getting the same symbol and picking some high profile figures from across the country to be part of the group showed that it was part of a master plan under which some political parties and alliances had been picked for official support, sources said.