SKARDU, March 18: As many as 25-candidates are contesting for the technocrats and women’s reserved seats of the Northern Areas Legislative Council scheduled to be held on March 22. Returning officer, Muhammad Abbas said on Saturday that six candidates (Male) will contest on PML ticket for technocrat seats are Aslam advocate (Gilgit), Ghulam Nabi (Skardu), Jan Alam (Diamer), Ghulam Hussain (Ghangche), Hazrullah (Astore) and Ali Murad (Ghizer), while Dilshad Bano (Gilgit), Fouzia Saleem Abbas (Skardu), Hamida Mustafa (Diamer), Amina Ansari (Ghangche), Noorullain (Ghizer) and Shahida Yousaf (Astore), respectively.

The returning officer said that three independent candidates are contesting for technocrat seats from Gilgit.

Mirza Yousaf Hussain (Skardu), Haji Mohammad Saleem (Ghangche), Juma Seed (Diamer), Murtaza Khan (Ghizer) and Iqbal (Astore) are also contesting as independent candidates.

For special women’s seats, Rani Atiqa Ghazanfer (Gilgit), Kulsoom Ilyas (Skardu), Gul Mera (Diamer), Habiba Zahra (Ghangche) and Yasmeen (Ghizer) are independent candidates, while Shahida Yousaf is contesting from Astore.—APP