RAWALPINDI, March 30: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI)’s local leaders on Saturday submitted their chairman Imran Khan’s nomination papers for NA-56.

PTI’s expected candidates Sadaqat Abbasi for NA-50, Hina Manzoor for NA-54, Arif Abbasi for PP-3 and Tariq Murtaza for PP-2 arrived at the district courts and submitted their nomination papers along with that of Imran Khan.

“The party will announce its candidates for Rawalpindi’s all national and provincial assembly seats on April 2,” said Raja Tariq Mehmood Kiani, the PTI leader and a former district nazim, while talking to Dawn.

He said the party would support former railway minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in NA-55 and would field candidates for all other six national and 14 provincial assembly seats in the district. “The seat adjustment is for National Assembly, not for the provincial assembly seats,” he explained.

On the second last day of submitting nomination papers, former president of Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Ahmed Kurd submitted the papers for NA-55, PPP’s Zamrud Khan for NA-54, Basharat Raja of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) for NA-52 and PML-N’s Malik Shakil Awan for NA-55.

On Saturday, the traditional hustle and bustle of the elections was missing.

All the candidates came to the returning officer without big rallies. Only the PML-N candidate came with dozens of people.

Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, ex-railway minister Sheikh Rashid, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, Raja Ali Zafar, Ghulam Murtaza Satti, PPP’s Ammar Mehdi and Chaudhry Iftikhar and JI’s Rizwan Ahmed and others have submitted their nomination papers.

According to the revised schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the nomination papers will be submitted till March 31 and their scrutiny by the returning officers will be held on April 1 and April 7.

Last date for filing of appeals against acceptance or rejection of the nomination papers has been set for April 10 and last date for decision on appeals by the tribunal is April 17.

Last date for withdrawal of candidature has been set for April 18, while publication of the revised list of candidates will be made on April 19.

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