More than 105 million voters are set to elect their representatives for the national and provincial assemblies today for the next five years in what appears to be one of the most contentious and unpredictable polls in Pakistan’s political history.

With fears and uncertainty about timely elections being over, the traditional contest will once again be among the three major parties — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — though what makes these elections different is the emergence of new religious groups.

The PTI with the largest number of ‘electables’ in its fold appears more confident than ever to sweep the elections. The PML-N is relying on both its performance as well as sympathy votes with the party supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz in Adiala jail and Kulsoom Nawaz on a ventilator back in London. The PPP is banking on its history and an astoundingly successful election campaign led by its young chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to expect a better performance in today’s polls than in the 2013 general election.

To read the full preview of what this day has in store for us, click here.