Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan is set for an intense electoral competition, as PTI’s provincial president Ali Amin Gandapur and JUI-F’s Maulana Lutfur Rahman, brother of his party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, will face off in a provincial assembly constituency.
Rehman and Gandapur are both contesting as independent candidates in PK-113. Rehman is in the race for PK-114 under the party’s banner – a seat with 23 candidates.
The most candidates for a provincial assembly seat in Dera Ismail Khan are 34 for PK-113. Besides Gandapur and Rehman who are running in the race as independent candidates, the other contenders include Mohammad Kafeel Ahmad of the JUI-F, Azizullah Alizai of the PPP, Sirhaan Ahmad Khan of the PML-N, Qayyum Nawaz of the PTI-P, and Taimur Ali Khan of the ANP.
Gandapur is in the race for PK-112 with his brother Faisal Amin Khan Gandapur also contesting for the seat as independent candidates. The competition is stiff in this constituency with PPP’s Ahmad Karim Kundi and JUI-F’s Samiullah Alizai also contesting for this seat. The total number of contenders for this seat is 20.
Former interim K-P agriculture minister Abdul Haleem Qasuria is also entering the electoral fray in two provincial assembly constituencies, adding another layer of intensity to the contest.
Adding a unique dimension to the elections is the participation of women candidates, with Mehnaz Ali contesting independently from two provincial constituencies.
Jamaat-e-Islami has introduced a woman candidate in one constituency PK-111, Fozia Gul, challenging traditional norms. Ehtesham Javed Akbar Khan of the PTI-P is also in the race for this seat. There are 20 candidates for this constituency.
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Former MPA Aghaz Ikramullah Gandapur of the JUI-F, whose grandfather, Sardar Inayatullah Khan Gandapur, had served as the chief minister of K-P, is in the race for PK-115.
He will face PTI-affiliated woman candidate Roshan Bibi in this contest. There are 28 contestants for this constituency.
A total of 23 candidates are in the fray for PK-108 Tank, including two former members of the K-P Assembly, JUI-F’s Mahmood Ahmad Khan and Ghulam Qadir Khan Bhittani.
For PK-109 Upper South Waziristan, the JUI-F did not give ticket to its former member Hafiz Issamuddin, who is contesting as an independent candidate. The JUI-F has fielded Ahmed Sher Khan for the seat for which 20 candidates are contesting the polls.
In PK-110 Lower South Waziristan, the PTI has changed its candidate.
Its former member Naseerullah Khan Wazir is contesting on a PTI-P ticket this time while the PTI has given its ticket to Ajab Gul. There are a total of 23 candidates in this constituency.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th 2024.
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