Junaid Toru
General Election 2024 to be held on 8th Februrary, as only 19 days left the political parties have intensified their election activities the preparations for the elections at the government level have also entered the final stages, however, the head of Jamiat Ulama e Islam (F) Mulana Fazlur Rehman and some other personalities are talking about the postponement of the elections.
A resolution has also been approved in this regard, but the major political parties of the country, Pakistan Muslim League (N), PTI, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Nationalist Awami National Party are not in favor of postponing the elections.
Talking about the second largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa there are three National Assembly seats and 8 Provincial assembly seats.15 lac 38 thousand 78 votes have been registered across the district including 8 lac 41 thousand 696 male and 6 lac 96 thousand 382 female voters. A total of 42 candidates are participating in the three seats of the National Assembly here.
14 candidates including various political parties are trying their luck in the first National Assembly Constituency NA-21 of Mardan. Senator Dilawar Khan’s brother Azam Khan on JUI ticket, Ahmed Ali from ANP, Asadullah Khan son of former Provincial Minister Rahim Dad Khan (deceased) from PPP, are trying their luck in this constituency. Maulana Dr.Ataur Rahman from Jamaat-e-Islami, Mohammad Ghalib from Pakistan Central Muslim League and District President of PTI and former MNA Mujahid Ali including Lubna Faheem, Mohammad Ayaz, Gul Mohammad, Sher Bahadur, Sartaj Khan, Hamid Ali Khan, Ameer Hijaz Khan and Pir Humayun Syed as independent candidates.
In this constituency, the main contest is expected between Azam Khan of JUI and Mujahid Ali of PTI. There is enough vote bank of JUI in various areas of NA-21 which is estimated in the municipal elections held 2 years ago Mulana Mubarak from JUI Tehsil Rustam and Mufti Hamad Ullah were elected as the chairman of Tehsil Katlang.
This National Assembly Constituency consists of two different tehsils, Rustam and Katlang. However it is also worth mentioning here that the elected chairman of Tehsil Mufti Hamadullah is still not in the mood to support his party candidate Azam Khan as a candidate which may affect the popularity of JUI. On the other hand although PTI has lost its electoral mark its vote bank cannot be ignored.
If the workers of this party leave their homes in large numbers on polling day the election results may be affected. They are trying their luck which apparently will be the candidate of JUI because both the parties are religious but it will be seen how the camel will crouch on the evening of February 8.
There are a total of 17 candidates in the second constituency NA-22. According to the official document, a total of 5 lac 54 thousand 737 votes have been registered in this constituency, including 3 lac 509 male voters, while 2 lakh 54 thousand 228 female voters are included. The candidates of this constituency include former Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti from Awami National Party, Qari Niaz Ali from JUI, President of PTI Peshawar Region and former Provincial Minister Muhammad Atif Khan, People’s Party Syed Abdali Shah Advocate, Ambareen (Hina) from Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, Maulana Shujaa Mulk from JUI (Shirani Group), Muhammad Syed from Pakistan Freedom Moment, Muhammad Sheron Amirzada from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Shariat Party, including Gibran Khan, Zulfiqar Ali, Saud Shah Rughani, Syed Umar Farooq, Syed Kamal, Mukhtiar, Sher Bahadur, Muhammad Ayaz and Muhammad Hanif are contesting the election as independents in the NA-22 constituency. Former Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan has been elected as a member of the National Assembly twice in the past. ANP candidate Amir Haider Khan Hoti is also considered a popular and influential political figure. The leaders and activists of the opposing political parties cannot deny the public popularity of Amir Haider Khan Hoti.
Former Provincial Minister Muhammad Atif Khan has been allotted sickle after the electoral symbol was snatched from PTI but after the events of May 9 Muhammad Atif Khan is still absent from the public scene.
The election fight on NA-22 is expected between Ameer Haider Khan Hoti of Awami National Party and the fugitive leader of PTI and independent candidate in the current election Muhammad Atif Khan. JI was given the ticket to Ex Tehsil Counselor Kaleem Bacha but he has announced his withdrawal from the elections due to personal reasons.
The third Constituency NA23 in Mardan, a total of 11 candidates are participating in the election contest. According to the available documents, there are 4 lac 61 thousand 602 registered votes in this constituency, including 2 lac 55 thousand 185 male voters while 2 lac 6 thousand 417 female voters. Former MPA Ahmed Khan Bahadur from Awami National Party ticket from this constituency. Bashir Khan, Jalal Khan Khattak from Muslim League (N), Aqib Ismail from Jamaat-e-Islami, Shoaib Alam Khan from Peoples Party, Kaleemullah Khan Toru from Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam, Maaz Ullah Khan from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Sharia Party, Abdul Aleem from Pakistan Central Muslim League and Zar Mohammad.
Shoaib Khan and PTI’s central leader and former Minister of State Ali Muhammad Khan are in the race as independent candidates. The main contest in this constituency will be between former Minister of State Ali Muhammad Khan and JUI’s candidate Kaleem Khan Toru. However, there are strong pockets of PTI in this constituency who can use their votes in favor of Ali Muhammad Khan.
This time, Maulana Muhammad Qasim is trying his luck for the provincial seat instead of the National Assembly. Aqib Ismail has participated in the elections on the ticket of Jamaat-e-Islami. In the past, Fazal Rabbani advocate and Mian Nader Shah from Jamaat-e-Islami were successful in the provincial assembly seats included in this constituency. Jamaat-e-Islami also has its own vote bank here. Shoaib Alam Khattak candidate and Jalal Khan Khattak’s nephew of Muslim League (N) ticket are also present in the election arena, however it is estimated from sources that the real contest in this constituency will be between PTI and JUI candidates.
