all 640 polling stations.
There are no clear hints but it is still unclear who the supporters of local cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz will back. No banned outfit has been spotted canvassing for candidates of any political or religious party, while the JI and the JUI-F have fielded several candidates.
There are a total of 370,000 male and 314,000 female voters, who will elect their representatives for 650 seats of the 50 union councils, which include 50 chairmen and as many vice-chairmen. There are some 3,000 candidates vying for a place in the local government in the capital city, including nearly 1,000 independents.
It is widely believed that the PML-N is poised for a big win from mostly the rural areas of Islamabad while the PTI can pocket a majority of seats from the urban localities of the federal capital.
There are 255 candidates for the seats of chairmen and vice-chairmen, whereas 1,210 are in the field for general councillor seats. Against the seats of women, the candidature of 351 has been cleared. For the seats of Kissan and workers, 248 candidates are in the electoral arena, whereas 230 have been cleared for the seats meant for youth. There are 102 vying for seats meant for the non-Muslims.
Each union council will consist of 13 members: a chairman a vice-chairman, six general seats, two for women and one each for Kissan, youth and non-Muslims.
Meanwhile, Asad Umar has moved the Chief Election Commissioner to take notice of what he called a violation of the code of conduct by changing the position of several polling stations. He called for a reversal of the same prior to the polls.
He also drew his attention to the publication in several newspapers of congratulations to the newly-installed minister Dr Tariq Fazal from the federal capital by several candidates belonging to the PML-N, including Wajid Ayub, Raja Mujahid and Muhammad Dawood Sheikh.
Asad Umar also wanted an extension in the polling time so that a large number of voters in the urban areas who are government employees can cast their votes after the official time of their duty.