Polling for KP Senate elections to take place today with 25 candidates in the race

(Web Desk): Polling for the 11 Senate seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will take place today, with 25 candidates in the running.

The polling process will start at 11 AM and continue until 4 PM. The Jirga Hall of the KP Assembly has been designated as the election room, and strict security arrangements have been put in place for the Senate elections.

To prevent horse-trading during the elections, the government and opposition have agreed on a formula that allocates six seats to the government and five seats to the opposition. According to this formula, six seats will be secured by the ruling party, while the opposition will claim five seats.

Out of the five dissident PTI candidates, four have withdrawn from the Senate elections. In the race for general seats, four government candidates and three opposition candidates are competing. For the reserved seats for women and technocrats, both the government and opposition have nominated two candidates each.

PTI has nominated Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Afridi, and Noorul Haq Qadri for the general seats, while Robina Naz and Azam Swati are the party's candidates for the reserved seats. On the opposition side, Niaz Ahmad from PML-N, Talha Mahmood from PPP, and Atta-ul-Haq from JUI-F are contesting for general seats. The PPP’s Rubina Khalid and JUI-F’s Dilawar Khan are also in the running for the reserved seats.

The ruling government in KP has the support of 92 members in the assembly, while the opposition enjoys the backing of 53 members. A total of 19 votes are required for a general seat, while reserved seats for women and technocrats need 49 votes each.

The opposition requires four additional votes to secure the third general seat. With four of the five dissident members withdrawing, Khurram Zishan remains the only dissident contestant for a general seat.

Meanwhile, a by-election for a vacant Senate seat in Punjab is also scheduled for today. The Punjab Assembly has been designated as the polling station for this election. The Election Commissioner of Punjab will serve as the Returning Officer, with 369 out of 371 members of the provincial assembly eligible to vote.

The Senate seat became vacant following the death of Professor Sajad Mir, the Amir of Jamaat-e-Ahle-Hadith Pakistan. In the by-election, Hafiz Abdul Kareem of PML-N is contesting, while the opposition has fielded Meher Abdul Sattar as their candidate. Additionally, two independent candidates, Khadijah Siddiqui and Ejaz Hussain, are also in the race.