Disqualification of prominent leaders and depriving PTI of its electoral symbol means the 2024 general elections are not as exciting as its predecessors have been.

The campaigning has picked up some pace of late, but even then it is clear that in terms of excitement, the Feb 8 polls will be a shadow of its former self.

That said, in isolation, there are still some constituencies where big-name candidates are expected to stage neck-and-neck battles.

Dawn.com has sifted through the 272 NA constituencies and compiled a list of eight seats where major high-profile candidates are anticipated to give each other tough competition.

Yasmin Rashid vs Nawaz Sharif

PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and PTI’s former provincial health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid will face off in NA-130, Lahore, in what could be a heated electoral battle.

Former PM Nawaz, who could not take part in the 2018 elections due to his conviction in the Panama Papers case, is back in the election arena after getting a clean chit from the courts. He will also be running from NA-15 in Mansehra against Gustasif Khan of the PTI and JUI-F’s Mufti Kifayatullah.

However, his main competition will be in his traditional stronghold of Lahore, where it will be interesting to see if he has lost any ground due to his party’s controversial 16-month rule. He will be up against Dr Rashid, whose stock among the PTI faithful has been boosted for not budging or leaving the party’s embattled leader despite months of detention.

In 2018, Rashid was a close second to PML-N’s Waheed Alam Khan in Lahore’s NA-125. She managed to secure 105,857 votes but was ultimately unsuccessful against Khan, who got 122,327 votes. She was later elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of PTI on a reserved seat for women.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari vs Ataullah Tarar

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is contesting the 2024 general elections from three NA constituencies: two from his home province of Sindh and one from NA-127 Lahore in what will be his electoral debut in Punjab. In Lahore, he will be facing PML-N firebrand Ataullah Tarar as well as Chaudhry Shabbir Gujjar — an independent associated with the PTI.

Despite Bilawal’s stature in Pakistani politics, he has yet to personally win an electoral battle outside the comfort zone of Larkana. In 2018, his attempt for NA seats in Karachi and Malakand was thwarted. For this reason alone, his decision to try his luck in the uncharted waters of Lahore is an even bigger risk.

Tarar has already criticised Bilawal’s foray into Lahore, saying, “What kind of significant project had been completed in Karachi that you (Bilawal) now make your way to Lahore? How dare they (PPP) come to Lahore?”

“Lahore is the stronghold of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. The people of the city love Nawaz Sharif. PML-N had clinched victory in Lahore even in difficult circumstances,” the former SAPM said.

Bilawal has remained undeterred in his speeches, and urged the people of Lahore to vote for the PPP, saying, “For the last 30 years, a party (PML-N) has ruled Lahore, but its condition is worse than any other city in the country. That party, in fact, represented the elite and not the common man, and therefore, it served only the former’s interests.

“On the contrary, the PPP is a party representing all segments of society and works for their welfare,” he said.

Maryam Nawaz vs Mian Abaad Farooque vs Iftikhar Shahid

One of the most anticipated battles will be seen in Lahore’s NA-119 where Maryam Nawaz, the apparent political heir of three-time premier Nawaz, will be contesting the general elections for the first time this year against Mian Abaad Farooque of the PTI and Iftikhar Shahid of the PPP.

The last time polls were held in 2018, Maryam was given party tickets for one National Assembly and one Punjab Assembly seat. But ahead of the elections, Maryam, along with Nawaz and her husband, was convicted in the Avenfield reference, in which she was accused of being “instrumental in concealment of the properties of her father” and given a seven-year prison term.

She was subsequently disqualified from contesting elections for a decade.

Maryam and her husband’s convictions in the Avenfield reference were finally overturned by the IHC in 2022, paving the way for her to contest elections.

In January 2023, Maryam was elevated in the party’s ranks and appointed senior vice president and chief organiser, making her one of the PML-N’s senior-most leaders.

Maryam, along with her cousin Hamza Sharif — son of former PM Shehbaz Sharif and former Punjab chief minister— are also contesting on provincial assembly seats from Lahore and perhaps eying the chief ministership of the country’s largest province.

It will be interesting to see if Maryam can at last become a part of the National and provincial assemblies, defeating PTI and PPP leaders in Lahore.

Ali Musa Gilani vs Mehr Bano Qureshi

The rivalry between the Qureshis and the Gilanis goes back decades long before any elections as both are ‘spiritual’ families. In Multan, as in many rural parts of the country, the Makhdooms are seen as intercessors. Their status, as custodians of revered local shrines, can also lend candidates an advantage in the “city of saints”.

This year PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s daughter Mehr Bano Qureshi will face PPP’s Ali Musa Gilani — son of former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani in Multan’s NA-151.

In Multan, Qureshi boasts a personal vote bank that supports him regardless who his party is. Thus, when he switched from PML-N to PPP in 1993, and from PPP to PTI in 2011, his core supporters stood by his side. This year, his daughter Mehr Bano Qureshi will fight the electoral battler in Multan on behalf of the family.

Like the Qureshis, the Gilanis also have a strong voter base in Multan. However, they were unable to get any joy from the City of Saints in the 2018 elections when the PTI had clean swept all six of the city’s NA seats. With the Qureshis under the cosh this year, the Gilanis may smell an opportunity to stage a comeback and regain some of the lost ground.

Khawaja Saad Rafique vs Sardar Latif Khosa

In Lahore’s NA-122, another one of PML-N’s traditional strongholds, it’s senior leader leader Khawaja Saad Rafiq will be up against PTI’s Sardar Latif Khosa — a new PTI member who joined the party from PPP and has represented party founder Imran Khan in several high-profile cases.

While addressing a workers’ convention in Lahore in Dec 2023, Rafique questioned PTI’s contributions during its nine-year rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, asking, “Did it build any children’s hospital, any cardiology institute or generate a single megawatt of electricity?”

“Rather than being influenced by performance on social media and narratives, the general elections will be grounded in the realities of towns and villages of the country,” he said, criticising the PTI’s reliance on social media.

Stressing that voter decisions should be based on tangible performance, Rafique detailed what he said were PML-N’s achievements, including a network of motorways and energy projects, in contrast to “PTI’s lack of major projects” during its four years of rule.

Khosa, whose PPP membership was suspended in September last year for representing Imran in several cases “without prior approval of [party] leadership”, joined the PTI in December. Despite being new to the party, he is not at all new to the world of politics and served as the Governor of Punjab from 2011 to 2013 and was one of Benazir Bhutto’s top aides.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman vs Ali Amin Gandapur vs Faisal Karim Kundi

A tough competition is likely in NA-44, Dera Ismail Khan, among three regional heavyweights — Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader and former federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur, and Pakistan Peoples Party’s central information secretary Faisal Karim Kundi.

In the 2018 election, Gandapur, then contesting on the PTI ticket, defeated JUI-F chief Fazl by a massive margin.

In December last year, Kundi invited Gandapur to join PPP. While talking to media persons, he said the invitation was extended so they could work jointly for the development of Dera Ismail Khan.

Kundi had also urged PTI workers to join PPP to defeat what he said was their common opponent, Fazl.

Farooq Sattar vs Khurram Sher Zaman

In Karachi’s NA-241, Dr Farooq Sattar of the MQM-P will be up against PTI Karachi president Khurram Sher Zaman.

Sattar’s association with the party goes back decades. He was one of the earliest members of APMSO (All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation), which was formed in 1978 and was a precursor of to MQM.

In 1987, at the age of 28, he was elected the mayor of Karachi and ran the party in close coordination with party founder Altaf Hussain.

In 2018, after MQM was divided into factions, Sattar contested from NA-245 but lost to late Amir Liaqat Hussain — then of the PTI. This year, his main opponent will against be a PTI member in the form of Zaman.

Sattar is also a candidate from Karachi’s NA-244, where another former PTI MNA Aftab Jahangir — who won from Karachi in 2018 — will be his primary rival.

Zaman, who was recently allowed by an election tribunal to contest elections, was triumphant on PTI’s ticket on a provincial seat in 2018 but has been given an NA ticket this year.

Sheikh Rasheed vs Hanif Abbasi

In Rawalpindi’s NA-56, Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid and PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi will be rekindling their long-time rivalry.

In 2018, Rashid won from Rawalpindi’s NA-62, defeating the PML-N candidate after the PTI, as part of its alliance with Rashid, did not field a candidate.

However, come 2024, Rashid has severed ties with the PTI, and so this time around he will not only have to face PML-N’s Abbasi, but also take on PTI’s Shahryar Riaz.

Meanwhile, Abbasi and Rashid, both local heavyweights, will finally see each other in the electoral battle. They was supposed to clash in NA-60 in 2018 but the elections had to be postponed due to Abbasi’s arrest and subsequent conviction in a narcotics case.

Last year, the Lahore High Court set aside his conviction and acquitted Abbasi earlier this month following his successful appeal.