PTI, TLP likely to field joint candidate for NA-249-by-poll

KARACHI: In an interesting development, the contact was made between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi chapter leadership and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan over the upcoming NA-249 by-poll, ARY News reported.

As per details, both parties discussed formulating a combined strategy and fielding a joint candidate for the upcoming by-poll in the NA-249 Karachi constituency.

Faisal Vawda, who won the seat in the 2018 general election, polled 35,349 votes, beating PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif by a small margin of 723 votes. Sharif had bagged 34,981 votes in the constituency in the election, while TLP’s Mufti Abid secured 23,981 votes.

TLP’s Muhammad Qasim and PTI’s Shahzad Awan won PS-115 and PS-116 seats in the Sindh Assembly from the area in the 2018 general election.

The seat fell vacant after Vawda resigned from the NA seat on March 4.

At least 55 candidates hailing from different parties have submitted their nomination forms to contest by-polls on NA-249.

According to the details, the most prominent among those who had submitted the nominations included Mustafa Kamal of the PSP and Miftah Ismail from the PML-N.

Read More: PTI, MQM-P write to ECP to change NA-249 Karachi-by-poll date

A total of 13 candidates submitted nomination forms from PTI, PML-N three, MQM-Pakistan 7, PPP 3, TLP 4, PSP 3 and one each candidate from ANP, MWM, PML-F have submitted nomination papers.

Besides them, Syed Hafeezuddin, Humayun Usman of the PSP, Ashraf Jabbar Qureshi, Malik Shahzad Awan, Amjad Afridi, Laila Perveen, Gull Maula and Yousuf Rehman from PTI, MQM-P’s Muhammad Mursaleen and Fayyaz Qaimkhani, Nazir Ahmed Kamalvi, Mufti Abid of the TLP, Ahmed from Sunni Tehreek, ANP’s Aurangzeb Buneri are also among the candidates who have submitted their nominations.