ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Sunday filed nomination papers from different constituencies for the general elections 2024.
PML-N leader Bilal Yasin submitted the nomination papers on behalf of Nawaz Sharif from NA-130 (Lahore-XIV), while Maryam Nawaz submitted her papers for two National Assembly (NA-119 and NA-120) constituencies.
Maryam Nawaz also submitted nomination papers from 4 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly — PP-80, PP-159, PP-160, and PP-165.
In the 2018 polls, PTI’s Rahat Aman Ullah Bhatti won the NA-119 (Sheikhupura One) constituency, and PML-N’s Rana Afzaal Hussain stood runner-up, whereas PML-N’s Rana Tanveer Hussain won the NA-120 (Sheikhupura two) and PTI’s Ali Asghar Chaudhry was runner-up.
On the other hand, NA-130 was won by PTI, with PML-N turning up as the second-largest party in the constituency.
PTI won PP-159 and 160 seats of Lahore with a narrow margin in the last general elections, while PML-N stood runner-up in both constituencies. On the flip side, PML-N President and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won the PP-165 seat effortlessly last time, but his party lost the PP-80 to the PTI by a wide margin.
Bilawal challenges Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has challenged the Sharif brothers in their stronghold of Lahore in the February 8 elections.
The PPP chairman on December 22 filed nomination papers from the NA-128 constituency in Lahore, which has been traditionally the stronghold of the PML-N, with the party securing a majority of seats from the provincial capital in the last several polls.
Along with Bilawal Bhutto, PPP’s Hafiz Ghulam Mohiuddin also submitted nomination papers from the NA-128 and PP-170 constituencies, while the party’s Misbah-ur-Rehman submitted nomination papers for the PP-169 seat in the same constituency.
PML-N’s Mian Ahmed Subhan is likely to contest polls against the PPP chairman in the NA-128 constituency.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has also announced contesting elections from three constituencies, including Lahore.
The much-awaited polls will take place on February 8, 2024, with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) finally issuing the schedule following the Supreme Court’s order.
