RAWALPINDI, April 3: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s party is out of the race for Rawalpindi’s downtown’s Provincial Assembly seat PP-11, after the presiding officer Kaleem Ahmed rejected the nomination papers of the two contestants on the third day of scrutiny (Wednesday).

According to details, Returning Officer Kaleem Ahmed rejected nomination forms of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) candidates Nasarullah Khan Jaral and covering candidate Fakhra Zainab.

Jaral’s nomination papers were rejected because he had not attached the expenditure details of his four air travels from Islamabad to Dubai.

Fakhra Zainab’s papers were rejected for misguiding the RO about her bank account details, as she said had claimed there were Rs100,000 in her bank whereas her account only had Rs30,000.

Talking to Dawn, APML candidate Nasarullah Khan Jaral expressed his disappointment over the decision.

He said he had been called to Dubai by Pervez Musharraf to attend party meetings, adding that he (Musharraf) had also sent the air tickets.

“The RO asked me about the air travel and I responded to each and everything objection raised by the RO,” he said.

He said he would approach the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench against the decision.

Returning Officer NA-50 Jahangir Mir also postponed the decision for three contestants till April 6, after he founds errors in the forms.

The three candidates are Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League-N, and Sadaqat Ali Abbasi and Javed Iqbal Satti of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

The RO found discrepancies in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) documents attached by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi with his nomination paper, while PTI’s Javed Iqbal Satti had attached a fake degree.

The decision on Sadaqat Ali Abbasi’s nomination papers was held because he had failed to pay dues worth Rs50,000 to newspapers.

In Rawalpindi District, the nomination papers of 10 candidates contesting elections for the National Assembly and 162 candidates for the Provincial Assembly have been accepted, while nomination papers of eight candidates of the Provincial Assembly have been rejected.