PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate for provincial assembly constituency PK-71 Zulfiqar Khan has said that he would work to promote education and provide health facilities to his constituents after winning the election.
"Education, health and clean drinking water are the three major issues of the people of the constituency. I will make efforts to address these issues if I got elected in the by-election," he told The News.
Zulfiqar Khan is the brother of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman, who had won the ballot from the constituency in the July 25 general election. However, he vacated the seat after being appointed as the governor. Shah Farman had defeated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate Sifatullah by a margin of 8,107 votes.
Zulfiqar Khan said that classes would soon start at the newly established college for boys in Koh-e-Daman area. He said the construction of a hospital had also been approved.
He said he would do all in his power to complete the projects started by the previous government in the constituency. "Some gas and electricity projects are to be undertaken by the federal government, but I will do whatever I can to solve the issues facing the people of my constituency," he added.
The PTI candidate said his brother Governor Shah Farman solarised a number of tube-wells in the constituency as minister for public health. He vowed to solarise the remaining ones to provide clean drinking water to the people.
Zulfiqar Khan, a businessman by profession, said his family had been associated with PTI since 1996 but he was not very active in politics. "I did Masters in Statistic in 1999-2000 and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Peshawar (UoP) in 2002. Later I started my own business," he added. He also served as a visiting lecturer in a university from 2002 to 2005.
Zulfiqar said he decided to contest the election after his brother Shah Farman become a governor and could not take part in political activities. In politics, one has to stay in touch with his constituents. My brother has to limit his political activities and that is the reason I have come forward to sever my people," he explained. "In the beginning, PTI was against dynastic politics that was why I preferred to work as an ordinary worker and remained behind the scene as my elder brother was active in the party. But now the party has realised the importance of electables and the role of families in politics so it has relaxed its stance on awarding tickets to relatives of its senior party leaders," he said. "The party has also awarded tickets to relatives of other senior leaders who had to retain National Assembly seats and vacate provincial assembly seats," he elaborated. He was confident of retaining his brother's seat by a huge margin.
Zulfiqar Khan said that workers of other political parties were in contact with him and willing to join the PTI. "People would start joining the party in droves in the coming days which would strengthen our position in the constituency," he claimed.
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