TIMERGARA: A total of 61 candidates, including two women, are in the running for two National Assembly and five provincial assembly seats in Lower Dir after the returning officers issued the final lists.

Earlier, 133 contenders had filed nomination papers, but 70 of them withdrew their papers and that of two were rejected by ROs.

According to the final list, 16 candidates, including JI chief Sirajul Haq, ANP spokesman Zahid Khan and former KP Assembly deputy speaker Ahmad Hassan of PPP are contesting election for the National Assembly.

PML-N’s Sobia Shahid to contest polls in NA-7

The Lower Dir’s constituencies include NA-6 and NA-7 and five provincial assembly seats of PK-13 to PK-17.

A total of eight candidates are vying for NA-6, including Ahmad Hassan of PPP, Zahid Khan of ANP, Maulana Asadullah of MMA, Mehboob Shah of PTI, Javed Akhtar of PML-N, Ihsanullah of Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan, Amjad Ali of Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek and Habibullah of APML.

For NA-7 only seven candidates are in the running. They include JI chief Sirajul Haq, Nazir Khan of ANP, Sobia Shahid of PML-N, Shahid Jan of PPP, Mohammad Bashir of PTI, Mohammad Khalid of Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, Abdul Ghaffar of APML and an independent candidate Mubarak Jan.

The MMA has awarded all the seven tickets to the JI contenders while three of JUI-F dissidents, including Hidayatullah, Mufti Khalid Mehmood and Mohammad Huzaifa, are contesting as independents from PK-13, PK-15 and PK-16.

In PK-13, the seven candidates include MMA’s Shad Nawaz, ANP’s Mohammad Zeb, PPP’s Mohammad Zamin, PML-N’s Azhar Taqveem, PTI’s Mohammad Azam and two independents.

In PK-14, the 11 candidates include PPP’s Bakht Baidar, MMA’s Dr Zakirullah, ANP’s Hussain Shah, PML-N’s Syed Ghani, PTI’s Humayun Khan, TLP’s Mohammad Ibrahim, Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek’s Ziauddin, Pakistan Rahe Haq Party’s Ubaidullah, QWP’s Said Nabi and two independents.

Prominent candidates in PK-15 include MMA’s Muzaffar Said, PPP’s Mehmood Zeb, PTI’s Shafiullah Khan, ANP’s Sajjad Ahmad and independents Sumaira and Khalid Mehmood.

MMA’s Izazul Mulk, ANP’s Bahadar Khan, PTI’s Sarbiland Khan, PML-N’s Ibadur Rehman are among the candidates for PK-16. A total of nine candidates have been left in the field after withdrawal of nominations in PK-17.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2018