KARACHI: The Pakistan Peoples Party on Sunday awarded tickets to 160 candidates — 51 for the National Assembly and 109 for the provincial assembly seats — to contest the July 25 general elections from Sindh.

The party has not given tickets for the candidates of three districts — Khairpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot and Sanghar — which it would finalise and announce on Monday (today) — the last day for filing nomination papers.

For Karachi’s 21 National Assembly seats, the PPP has given tickets to 20 aspirants while it fielded 43 candidates on the city’s 44 provincial assembly seats.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will be contesting elections from NA-200 (Larkana-I) and NA-246 (Karachi South-I).

Former president Asif Zardari will be contesting from NA-213 (Shaheed Benazirabad-I).

Faryal Talpur, sister of former President Asif Zardari, who had been a member of the National Assembly in the previous two tenures, has been awarded a ticket for the Sindh Assembly from PS-10 (Larkana-I).

Mr Zardari’s another sister Azra Fazal Pechuho, who was also an MNA, will also be contesting on a provincial assembly seat PS-37 (Shaheed Benazirabad-I).

Remaining tickets to be announced today

Bilawal’s sister Aseefa was earlier being reported that she would also contest from a provincial assembly seat. However, her name is not included in the list.

Party leaders said she might be a part of the list candidates for Qambar district, which, along with candidates for Khairpur and Sanghar districts has been withheld for unknown reasons. Some party leaders, however, said she might be contesting from Lyari in a by-election if it was won and withdrawn by his brother.

Sources said there were certain

“issues” regarding awarding of tickets in the remaining three districts.

Former chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has again been awarded ticket for the Sindh Assembly as he would be contesting from his ancestral constituency PS-80 (Jamshoro-I).

PPP Sindh president Nisar Khuhro will be contesting from PS-11 (Larkana-II).

Besides, Sindh Assembly’s speaker Agha Siraj Durrani will again be contesting on PS-9 (Shikarpur-III).

Former opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah will be contesting on NA-206 (Sukkur-I)

Former provincial minister Sharjeel Memon, who facing graft cases, will again be contesting on PS-63 (Hyderabad-II).

Ayaz Shah Shirazi and Hussain Shah Shirazis of Sujawal, who have recently joined the PPP by switching the PML-N, have been awarded tickets for NA-231 (Sujawal) and PS-75 (Sujawal-I) respectively. Another Riaz Shirazi has been awarded ticket on PS-77 (Thatta-I)

Shehla Raza, who has been deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly for two tenures, has been awarded a party ticket on NA-243, where she would be facing PTI chief Imran Khan.

Prominent among those fielded on National and provincial assembly seats in Sindh are, Imtiaz Shaikh, Sohail Siyal, Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar, Muhammed Bux Mahar, Nauman Islam-ud-Din Shaikh, Nasir Shah, Zia Lanjar, Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Hari Ram, Mir Munawar Talpur, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Sardar Shah, Makhdoom Jameel-uz-Zaman, Makhdoom Rafiq-uz-Zaman, Jam Khan Shoro, Syed Naveed Qamar, Malik Asad Sikander, Imran Zafar Leghari, Pir Mujeeb-ul-Haq, Sajid Jokhio, Hakeem Baloch, Saeed Ghani, Javaid Nagori, Aziz Memon, Najmi Alam, Murtaza Wahab, Qadir Patel , Humayoon Khan , Dr Shahida Rehmani, Shamim Mumtaz, Danish Turabi and actor Sajid Hassan.

Over 7,000 nomination forms submitted

The ECP was yet to calculate the number of nomination forms submitted by aspirant candidates against Sindh’s 61 general and 14 women reserved seats of the National Assembly as well as the province’s 130 general seats, 29 women reserved seats and nine seats of minorities before district returning officers concerned.

In Karachi, over 7,000 forms have been submitted by aspirants to contest elections on the city’s 21 National Assembly and 44 Sindh Assembly seats.

Candidates belonging to the PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Grand Democratic Alliance, Pak Sarzameen Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Awami National Party, ANP, five-party Muttahida Majlis-i-Aml, Khadim Rizvi-led Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan and other parties have filed their nomination papers along with an affidavit that contained whose details are being forwarded by the ECP to the National Accountability Bureau, State Bank of Pakistan and other institutions for a thorough verification.

By Sunday, Karachi’s deputy mayor Arshad Vohra submitted his nomination forms from NA-254 from the platform of the PSP; MQM’s Kamran Tessori (NA-255), Iqbal Muhammad Ali (NA-241 and 242), Kanwar Naveed Jameel (NA-255); PPP’s Saeed Ghani (NA-244 and PS-104), Javed Nagori (PS-107); MMA’s Hafiz Naeem (NA-243) and various other leaders have filed their nomination papers.

Nomination papers for Shahbaz Sharif obtained

On Sunday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Saleem Zia obtained nomination forms for party president Shahbaz Sharif from three NA constituencies.

According to political analysts, the younger Sharif is likely to contest elections from only one Karachi NA seat (NA-249).

After PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Imran Khan, Mr Sharif would be the third head of a national party who is planning to contest elections from Karachi.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2018