Polling for the 37 vacant senate seats has begun in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies and Parliament House Islamabad. Polling started at 9am and will continue uninterrupted till 5pm. Member of National Assembly Shafiq Arain was the first person to cast the vote. On March 11, a total of 52 senators in the house of 104 are set to retire. This time, the Senate polls will see the election of 48 senators. 11 senators from each from Punjab and Sindh, 12 each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and two from Islamabad. The contest between Yousaf Raza Gillani and Hafeez Shaikh is said to be the most high profile contest as they both aim for the general seat from Islamabad. PTI’s Omar Ayub and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi have cast their votes. Whereas Shahbaz Sharif and Khawaja Asif are scheduled to cast their votes at 11 am today.