Nowshera braces for next polls

PESHAWAR: The political parties have started attracting resourceful and electable candidates for national and provincial assemblies’ seats in Nowshera district where Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, his team and close relatives would be the main contestants in the upcoming general election.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has invited applications, and interviewed potential candidates for the award of tickets for the next polls.

According to sources in the PTI, hundreds of applications have been submitted for party tickets.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has focused on his native Nowshera.

He is holding public meetings in the district, where his brother Liaqat Khattak is the district nazim, one of his nephews is tehsil nazim and his son-in-law Dr Imran Khattak is Member National Assembly (MNA).

Like the last general election, Pervez Khattak would contest for the national and provincial assemblies’ seats.

This time he has chosen NA-26 (old NA-6) Nowshera where he would convince Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) head Maulana Samiul Haq to support him.

However, the Maulana has been insisting to field Hamidul Haq, who was elected as MNA on the ticket of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in 2002 general election.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) would nominate Zulfiqar Bacha for NA-26 constituency, who contested the 2013 election on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and lost to the PTI’s candidate.

It was learnt that Awami National Party (ANP) would withdraw its candidate in support of the MMA against the PTI candidate in this constituency.

Dr Imran Khattak is likely to get party ticket for NA-25 (old NA-5) Nowshera where the ANP had awarded ticket to Jamal Khattak, a young and resourceful member of political family of Manki Sharif.

Asif Luqman Qazi, the son of late Qazi Hussain Ahmad, would be main contestant from the MMA’s platform in Nowshera.

Former MNA Tariq Khattak has also joined the JUI-F in the hope to get ticket for upcoming general election.

Former district nazim and ANP candidate in the previous election Daud Khattak has rejoined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and he would contest from the same constituency.

For the five provincial assembly seats, the ANP has awarded tickets to its candidates where party’s general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, former MPAs Khalil Abbas Khan, Pervez Ahmad Khan and Shahid Khattak are considered strong candidates in their respective constituencies.

Pervez Khattak, Liaqat Khattak and nephew Ahad Khattak are most likely to get party tickets for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Former provincial minister Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel and former tehsil nazim Zar Alam Khan are expected to contest elections for provincial assembly seats in the district.

The PTI might face difficulties in the distribution of ticket as dozens of old and new faces have applied for national and provincial assemblies’ seats in the district.

Certain resourceful applicants may contest the polls in independent capacity if they did not get PTI’s ticket.

The PPP would field former provincial minister Liaqat Shabab, former federal minister Mian Muzaffar Shah and Dr Nisar Khan in the general election in Nowshera.

In wake of fresh delimitation of constituencies in Nowshera not a single political party can claim majority in the general election but the PTI has an edge over other parties for its record developmental work in the district.