Islamabad, Jul 25 (PTI) Two brothers -- namesakes of former premier Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif -- cast their votes, as Pakistan went to polls today, local media reported.

Brothers Nawaz and Shehbaz exercised their voting right in Rajanpur 2 assembly constituency of Punjab Province, Geo News reported.

The brother duo said their father, Muhammad Sharif, named them after the PML-N leaders owing to his "love for the party".

Former prime minister Sharif, the supremo of the PML-N, is in jail since nearly a fortnight after his conviction in a corruption case. His younger brother Shahbaz replaced him as the PML-N president after the elder Sharif was disqualified by a court.

Shahbaz headed the PML-N government in Punjab province from 2013 to 2018.

Pakistan's flamboyant cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) faced rivals PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in an election marred by a deadly suicide attack and allegations of manipulations by the powerful military.

According to the Election Commission, 3,459 candidates are in the race for 272 general seats of the National Assembly, while 8,396 candidates are running for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies - Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. More than 30 political parties have fielded their candidates for the elections.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)