TAXILA: Various political parties have awarded tickets to their potential candidates vying for the National and provincial assembly constituencies in Attock district and Taxila tehsil.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) awarded ticket for National Assembly constituency NA-49 Attock-I to former federal minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmed while Malik Sohail is in the run in the National Assembly constituency of NA-50 Attock-II.

For provincial assembly constituency PP-1 Attock-I, ticket was awarded to former provincial minister for sports Jehangir Khanzada, Iftikhar Ahmed Khan has been fielded in PP-2 Attock-II, Malik Hameed Akbar in PP-3 Attock-II, former provincial minister Sher Ali Khan in PP-4 Attock-IV and Malik Itibar Khan will be contesting from PP-5 Attock-V.

Similarly, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has awarded ticket to former member of National Assembly (MNA) Tahir Sadiq in NA-49 Attock-I while his daughter Eman Tahir has been fielded in NA-50 Attock-II.

Qazi Ahmed Akbar has been awarded ticket in PP-I Attock-I, Sardar Mohammad Ali in PP-2 Attock-II, Syed Ijaz Bukhari in PP-3 Attock-II and Sardar Mumtaz in PP-4 Attock-IV. The PTI also awarded ticket to Malik Jamshaid Altaf for PP-5 Attock-V.

The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has also fielded a number of candidates from various constituencies.

For the National Assembly constituency NA-49 Attock-I, the party has fielded Allama Hamid Raza while the TLP chief, Allama Saad Rizvi, will be vying for NA-50 Attock-II.

Haji Mukhtar will contest from PP-I Attock-I, Ayaz Khan from PP-2 Attock-II, Umer Irshad advocate from PP-3 Attock-II, Malik Amanat from PP-4 Attock-IV while Syed Ahsan Shah will contest from TLP platform in PP-5 Attock-V.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) awarded ticket for NA-49 constituency to Khurrum Shahzad and fielded Sardar Saleem Haider in NA-50.

For provincial assembly constituency PP-1 Attock-I, the party has awarded ticket to Mohammad Tariq, Sardar Zulfiqar Hayat Khan got the ticket in PP-2 Attock-II, Haider Ali, PP-3 Attock-II; Malik Liaquat Ali, PP-4 Attock-IV but failed to award ticket to any candidate in PP-5 Attock-V.

In Taxila, Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) has awarded ticket to former federal minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in NA-54 Rawalpindi-III, Ammar Sadeeq Khan in PP-12 (Rawalpindi-VI) and Malik Azmat Mehmood in PP-13 (Rawalpindi-VII).

The PML-N awarded ticket to Barrister Aqeel Malik for NA-54 Rawalpindi-III and has fielded former member Punjab Assembly Mohsin Ayub Khan in PP-12 (Rawalpindi-VI) and former MPA Umer Farooq in PP-13 (Rawalpindi-VII).

A possible seat adjustment between PML-N and IPP on the National Assembly seat is also expected.

The PTI awarded ticket to former member provincial minister Taimour Masood Akbar for NA-54 while for the provincial assembly constituency PP-12, the decision has been kept pending.

However, for PP-13, the ticket was awarded to Mr Akbar.

The PPP awarded tickets for the National Assembly constituency to Syed Qammar Abbas while Malik Shahid Nawaz has been fielded in PP-12 and Qammar Abbas in PP-13.

The JI, which opted for solo flight in the general elections, announced that its labour leader Shamsur Rehman Swati would be the candidate for National Assembly constituency NA-54. In PP-12, the ticket has been awarded to Attiqur Rehman while for PP-13, former member Punjab Assembly Prof Waqas Khan has been fielded.

It may be mentioned here that Syed Ijaz Bukhari in Attock and Malik Taimoor Masood Akbar in Wah had announced in their video statementsthat they were leaving the PTI following the May 9 incident but were still awarded tickets from their respective constituencies by the PTI.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2024