A litmus test for KP PTI: By-elections being held on one NA, nine PK seats today

PESHAWAR: The by-elections for one National Assembly and nine provincial assembly constituencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be a litmus paper test for the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as it has fielded candidates on all vacant seats.

The by-polls are being held today in six districts of the province.

According to an official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), all arrangements have been made to hold the by-elections.

The elections for two provincial assembly constituencies, PK-78 Peshawar and PK-99 Dera Ismail Khan were postponed after the martyrdom of Awami National Party candidate Haroon Ahmad Bilour and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf contestant Ikramullah Gandapur in separate terrorist attacks during the election campaign for the July 25 polls.

The remaining seats were vacated by elected lawmakers who had won two or more than two seats in the last general election.

The opposition parties, including Awami National Party (ANP), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) have fielded joint candidates against the PTI nominees for the by-polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A tough contest is expected between the PTI and MMA candidates for the National Assembly constituency, NA-35 Bannu.

The seat was vacated by PTI chairman, Prime Minister Imran Khan. He had defeated MMA’s Akram Khan Durrani in the general election.

The MMA has awarded ticket for the by-election to his son Zahid Akram Durrani. The PTI has fielded Syed Nasim Ali Shah, a former JUI-F leader. However, the presence of independent candidate Malik Nasir Khan, a former lawmaker, can dent the PTI vote-bank as he had been associated with the party until recently and had sought the ticket for contesting the by-election.

Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak fielded his brother Liaqat Khattak and son Ibrahim Khattak on the two provincial assembly seats he had vacated in Nowshera.

It is believed the PTI would retain the seats as the opposition parties are complaining that the ANP did not actively participate in the election campaign. The opposition parties had pledged to support the ANP candidates against the PTI.

On the other hand, Pervez Khattak and his family have been actively involved in the electioneering for the PTI candidates running for PK-61 and PK-64 in Nowshera.

In Swabi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser Khan’s brother Aqibullah Khan, who is a former MNA, would face ANP candidate Ghulam Hassan and an independent candidate on PK-44 Swabi. This seat was won by Asad Qaiser in the general election.

The by-polls for two Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats in Swat, PK-3 and PK-7, would see a pitched battle between PTI and combined opposition candidates. PML-N’s Sardar Khan is fighting it out with PTI’s Sajid Ali Khan in PK-3. In the PK-7 constituency, ANP’s Waqar Khan cannot be underestimated in the contest against PTI’s Fazle Moula in PK-7. As chief minister Mahmood Khan belongs to Swat and the local people are expecting more development projects and jobs from the PTI government, most voters may vote for the PTI candidates.

However, a tough contest is expected between ANP candidate Ahmad Khan Bahadar and PTI’s Abdul Salam Afridi for PK-53 Mardan.

The seat was vacated by ANP provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti who had also won National Assembly seat in July 25 general election.

In Dera Ismail Khan the by-election would be held for two provincial assembly constituencies. The polls were postponed on PK-99 after the death of PTI’s late provincial minister Ikramullah Khan Gandapur in a terrorist attack and now his son is contesting the polls.

Ali Amin Gandapur, recent made federal minister, vacated his provincial assembly seat PK-97 after opting for the National Assembly as he had won both seats. His brother Faisal Amin is the PTI candidate against the MMA nominee.

In Peshawar, the opposition parties are supporting ANP candidate Samar Haroon Bilour, the widow of Haroon Bashir Bilour on PK-78 against PTI’s Mohammad Irfan.

The Bilour family may get some sympathy votes in the by-election as late Bashir Ahmad Bilour and his son Haroon Ahmad Bilour had fallen victim to terrorism. However, it remains to be seen if the pro-PTI wave is still strong after having swept the polls in the province on July 25. Beating the PTI candidate won’t be easy considering the party’s amazing success in the July polls in Peshawar city and district.

It is worth mentioning that PTI’s Shaukat Yousafzai had won the first by-polls by a big margin when the ECP ordered re-polling in Shangla after less than 10 percent women voted in the constituency during the general election.