ABBOTTABAD, July 28: A total of 202 nomination papers were filed for the posts of nazims and naib nazims of 51 union councils of Abbottabad district till Wednesday midnight.
About 1,001 candidates filed papers for 210 general councillor seats but only 15 filed nominations for 51 minority seats.
Around 210 women candidates filed nomination papers for 51 seats of women councillors. However, no woman candidate filed nomination from Pawa Union Council.
Earlier, two groups from the home union council of Provincial Minister for Local Bodies Sardar Mohammad Idrees clashed after an official handout was issued by the provincial government at 5pm, declaring unopposed election of Sardar Imtiaz and Sardar Gul Nawaz as nazim and naib nazim of Tajwal union council.
Later, speaking at a press conference, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) district president Aurangzeb Nulhutta, People’s Party Parliamentarians divisional president Shamreez Khan Jadoon and former district naib nazim Barrister Javed Abbasi accused the minister of manipulating the election before the polling.
They alleged that the minister’s men from Kalabagh had opened fire on them to prevent them from filing nominations.
Later, they said, the police seized an official vehicle and recovered a pistol and Kalashnikovs from it.
They said that they succeeded in reaching the office of the returning officer but police used baton charge to disperse the people after the clash.
A number of candidates and their supporters, besides some journalists, were beaten up by police, they said.
According to them, police arrested a candidate with his proposers and seconders for trying to stop their rivals from filing the papers but due to timely intervention by the returning officer, the nomination papers were accepted.
They called on the election commissioner to immediately intervene in the matter and ensure impartial and fair elections in the area.
Later, police arrested six people — the official vehicle’s driver Faheem, Muneer, Suleman, Pervez, Abdul Qayum and Iltaf.
The official vehicle (Peshawar A-9273) of the Town-II (Peshawar) municipal administration was impounded by the police who registered an FIR.