PESHAWAR, Feb 7: After the withdrawal of nomination papers from the race for Senate, now, 38 candidates have been left to venture for 22 seats of the upper house of Parliament.

On Friday, 12 out of the 50 candidates had withdrawn their papers. They include Mohammad Ramzan Tauqir, Merajuddin, Seyd Maroof Shah, Maulana Samiul Haq (MMA), Dr Mohammad Kabir (ANP), Meraj Humayun, Syed Qamar Abbas, Mushtrai Anwar Begum (PPP), Rafatullah Babar (PPP-S), Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (PML-N), Justice (retd) Mohammad Azam (PML-Q) and Dr Rubina Noman (Ind).

Haji Fazal-i-Qadir and Maulana Syed Mohammad Akram Shah, both from the MMA, have yet not withdrawn their papers. The MMA had fielded 21 candidates for 22 seats.

Those who are contesting elections include, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Syed Hidayatullah Shah, Prof Khursheed Ahmed, Mohammad Azam Khan Swati, Sahibzada Khalid Jan, Maulana Rahat Hussain, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, Qazi Abdul Latif, Prof Mohammad Ibrahim, Fazale Qadar, Shaukat Ali Khan, Mohammad Akram Shah, Dr Mohammad Said, Maulana Samiul Haq, Syed Tanzeemul Haq, Mohammad Saeed advocate, Dr Kausar Firdous, Mumtaz Bibi, Dr Nargis Manzoor, Ayesha Mumtaz Malik, Musarrat Mushtaq Kakakhel (MMA), Asfandyar WAli Khan, Qazi Mohammad Anwar, Ilyas Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Sardar Ali Khan, Farhat Ullah Babar (PPP), Eng Fazal Hussain, Khalilur Rehman, Fauzia Fakharuzzaman Khan (PML-Q), Shujaul Mulk, Asif Jan, Aneesa Zeb (PPP-Sherpao), Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan (PML-Nawaz), Gulzar Ahmed Khan, Waqar Ahmed Khan, Inamullah Khan Wazir, Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani and Shaheen Sardar Ali (Independents).

Out of the five independent candidates, three are running for the general seats and two (Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani and Shaheen Sardar Ali) are contesting for the reserved technocrats and women seats, respectively. Both are former provincial ministers. They would have been PML-Q’s candidates, if the PML-Q would bag enough seats in NWFP.

According to the MMA insiders the independent candidates were trying to prey upon the MMA cluster. They had made contacts with Maulana Musamar Shah, Felix Innocent, Israrul Haq Haqani, Maulana Amanullah, Fareed Khan, Kashif Alam, Akhtar Nawaz Khan, Maulana Ismatullah and others. Mr Innocent, an MMA minority MPA, had told the party leadership about the aims of the independents who approached him.