The Election Commission of Pakistan starts scrutiny of nomination papers filed for National and Provincial Assemblies across the country on Monday (today) after it allowed candidates to file nomination forms till Sunday midnight.
Meanwhile, offices of some banks and utility companies remained opened on Sunday to facilitate the candidates to clear their tax liabilities and bills of electricity, gas and telephone before filing their nomination papers.
The National Assembly consists of 342 members. Total Elected Members on general seats are 272 and there are 70 seats reserved for women and religious minorities.
Punjab Assembly consists of 371 members, Sindh 168 members, NWFP 124, Balochistan 628 members. In Lahore, candidates of various parties and independents filed nomination papers for 13 National Assembly and 25 Punjab Assembly seas.
The candidates included PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan and PPP's Aitezaz Ahsan's wife.
Political observers maintained that the number of candidates allowed to contest the elections would decline by as much as 30 percent because of the strict enforcement of qualification criteria under Article 62 and 63. They reminded that more than 13,000 candidates had filed nominations during the 2008 general elections.