The polling for by-elections on six vacant Senate is underway on Thursday at the Parliament House in Islamabad and will conclude at 4pm.

Elections are being held on one seat from Islamabad, two from Sindh and three from Balochistan, 311 members of the National Assembly who took oath will vote for the Senate seats. Zafar Iqbal has been appointed the returning officer for that NA.

However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) finds itself on the sidelines of the Senate elections, once again grappling with the loss of its electoral symbol in the parliamentary realm.

As per the dictates of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), only parties with electoral symbols are eligible to partake in the Senate polls, adhering to the same rules governing general elections.

With the ‘bat’ symbol out of reach, PTI’s Senate dreams hang in the balance and its hopefuls will once again contest as independents. However, members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) are poised to throw their weight behind PTI’s independent contenders.

Read Without ‘Bat’, PTI shut out of Senate elections

The party has finalised two new names vying for Senate seats, according to insider sources. PTI has set its sights on Zulfi Bukhari, marking him as a contender for a coveted Senate position. In addition, the party has earmarked a Senate ticket for Hamid Khan, a stalwart and founding member of the PTI.

The polling for the by-elections will be held in the NA, Sindh Assembly and Balochistan Assembly. The seats fell vacant after the resignation of six senators.

In the NA, the contest is between Ilyas Mehrban of the SIC and Yousaf Raza Gilani of the PPP. For the seats in Sindh, PPP’s Jam Saifullah Dharejo and Muhammad Aslam Abro are competing against SIC’s Nazirullah and Shazia Sohail.

For the three vacant seats of Balochistan, PPP has issued tickets to Abdul Qudus Bizenjo, Tariq Hussain Bugto and Shakeel Durrani. The PML-N has fielded Domki and JUI has fielded Abdul Shakur. The two independent candidates are Hibyar Domki and Syed Mehmood Shah.