208 NA, 277 PA candidates contesting general elections 2018 from Rawalpindi Division

RAWALPINDI: Total 208 National Assembly and 277 Provincial Assembly candidates are contesting General Elections 2018 in Rawalpindi Division including Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Attock, Jhelum and Islamabad.

According to details, 75 candidates are contesting general elections from Rawalpindi, 21 from Chakwal, 15 from Attock, 24 from Jhelum and 73 from Islamabad for 16 constituencies of National Assembly and 27 for provincial assembly constituencies of the division.

NA-52 to NA-54, three constituencies are in Islamabad, NA-55 to NA-56, two constituencies of Attock, seven of Rawalpindi, NA-57 to NA-63, two of Chakwal, NA-66 and NA-67 and two constituencies of Jhelum.

Similarly, 166 Provincial Assembly candidates are in the field from Rawalpindi, 35 from Chakwal, 37 from Attock and 39 from Jhelum districts of the division.

Five provincial assembly constituencies from PP-1 to PP-5 are in Attock district, 15 constituencies, PP-6 to PP-20 are in Rawalpindi district, four constituencies, PP-21 to PP-24 are in Chakwal district while three Jhelum constituencies are from PP-25 to PP-27.

Talking to APP, Regional Election Commissioner Majid Sharif Dogar informed that the Election Commission is finalizing all the arrangements for upcoming general elections 2018. The training is also being imparted to election officers, he added.

According to district Election Commissioner, Rawalpindi-I, Saleem Akhtar Khan, 75 National Assembly (NA) and 166 Provincial Assembly (PA) candidates are contesting general elections 2018 in Rawalpindi district including former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former PM, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Hanif Abbasi.

According to the final lists issued by Returning Officers here, total 143 nomination papers for seven National Assembly seats, NA-57 to NA-63 of the district were filed and 402 for 15 provincial assembly seats, PP-6 to PP-20.

Total 128 nominations papers for NA seats were accepted with 351 for PA seats while after scrutiny process, 15 papers of NA and 51 of PA seats were rejected by the Returning Officers. 54 nomination papers of NA and 185 of PA were withdrawn.

Lists of candidates along with their symbols were posted outside the offices of Returning Officers and District Returning Officers.

Total 31,25,669 are registered voters of Rawalpindi district including 16,47,507 male and 14,78,162 female.

The district authorities concerned are taking action on the violations and illegal election publicity material including unapproved size banners and posters displayed by political parties and election candidates, is being removed, he added.

He further informed that Election Commission of Pakistan is also running a voters awareness program to enhance voters turn out in the general election 2018.