Peshawar (Web Desk): Voting for the Senate by-election in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly began on Thursday in the Jirga Hall, following a delay of two hours from the scheduled 9:00am.
This election was necessitated by the resignation of Sania Nishtar, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
A total of five women are contesting for the vacant seat. PTI has nominated Mashal Yousafzai as its candidate, while other major political parties have also put forward their contenders.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has fielded Shazia, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is represented by Sobia Shahid.
Additionally, two independent candidates, Mehtab Zafar and Saima Khalid, are also in the fray.
Initially, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had nominated Raheela Bibi; however, she withdrew her candidacy in support of Sobia Shahid from PML-N.
The voting process involves 145 members of the provincial assembly, who are casting their votes to determine the winner. Once the voting concludes, the counting of ballots will commence immediately to finalize the result.