Dr Saveera Parkash declared eligible to contest polls

DAGGAR: Dr Saveera Parkash was Thursday declared eligible to contest the upcoming elections on PK-25, Buner, after scrutiny of her documents.

After passing through the first hurdle, Dr Saveera Parkash has become the first minority woman from the Hindu community in Buner to contest the forthcoming general elections from Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dr Saveera Parkash had also filed nomination papers for the national and provincial assemblies’ reserved seats.

She would be competing with Awami National Party leader and former minister Sardar Hussain Babak, ex-minister Riaz Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader and ex-lawmaker Mufti Fazal Ghafoor and others in the polls slated for February 8, 2024.

Saveera Parkash completed her MBBS from the Abbottabad International Medical College in 2022 and is also the general secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party women’s wing in Buner.

Parkash’s father Dr Om Parkash, who has recently retired, has been an active member of the party for the past 35 years.

Upbeat over the response of the local people, Dr Saveera Parkash said that she had not expected such an overwhelming response.

“Even the leaders and supporters of the religious parties appreciated my decision to contest the election,” she went on to add.

Several minority families have been living in Buner district and some male members of the community contested elections in the past.