The big wigs of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf have been left out of the upcoming Senate race, inviting criticism by old members of the ruling party. 

The PTI has released a list of its candidates for the Senate election scheduled to be held on March 3. Key PM aides Babar Awan and Shehzad Akbar are not on the list while Zulfi Bukhari withdrew himself from the ticket list to keep himself away from criticism. 

PM assistant Dr Sania Nishtar is nominated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh will be a candidate for a general seat from Islamabad. Gurdeep Singh will be the PTI candidate for the reserved seat for minorities while Falak Naz Chitrali a nominee for a reserved seat.

From KP, Shibli Faraz, Mohsin Aziz, Zeeshan Khanzada and Faisal Saleem are candidates for general seats while Dost Muhammad Mehsud and Dr Humayun Mohmand for technocrat seats. 

Form Punjab, Saifullah Khan, Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary and Aon Abbas Buppi are nominated for general seats while Barrister Ali Zafar and Dr Zarqa are candidates for technocrat seat and reserved seat for women respectively. From Sindh, Faisal Vawda has been awarded PTI ticket for a general seat and Saifullah a technocrat seat.