LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has officially announced its candidates for the upcoming by-elections on Punjab’s provincial and national assembly seats.

Hammad Azhar, the acting president of PTI’s Punjab chapter, unveiled the names of the candidates who will be contesting in the by-polls scheduled for April 21 on six NA and 12 PA constituencies in Punjab.

There is some uncertainty surrounding whether these PTI-endorsed candidates will be running independently or under the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Independent candidates who were previously supported by PTI and emerged victorious in the February 8 elections have now aligned themselves with SIC in order to secure reserved seats.

This strategic move comes after PTI lost its bat symbol following the Supreme Court’s ruling, which deemed the party’s intra-party polls as unconstitutional according to the Election Commission.

PTI-backed candidates to contest April 21 by-polls:

• NA-119 (Lahore): Shahzad Farooq
• NA-132 (Kasur): Sardar Muhammad Hussain Dogar
• PP-32 (Gujrat): Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
• PP-149 (Lahore): Hafiz Zeeshan
• PP-158 (Lahore): Moonis Elahi
• PP-164 (Lahore): Yousuf Meo
• PP-139 (Sheikhupura): Aijaz Bhatti
• PP-22 (Chakwal): Hakim Nisar
• PP-54 (Narowal): Owais Qasim