Electioneering up in Shangla

BISHAM: The electioneering for the local government election has reached its peak and a tough competition is expected between the candidates of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Awami National Party (ANP) in the polls in the district.
The Shangla district has two tehsils. The Alpuri Tehsil, which is also the administrative headquarters of Shangla, has 19 union councils while Puran Tehsil has nine union councils. A total of 2,193 candidates are contesting the local government elections in the district that included 170 candidates for district council seats, 163 for town council, 1,030 for general councillor seats, 142 for women seats, 369 for peasant councillor and 319 for youth councillor seats. No one is in the run for the 105 seats reserved for minority.
A total of 199 candidates, including 46 on general council seats, 124 on women, 11 on peasant, 18 on youth and two on minority seats have been elected unopposed.Forty-three seats reserved for women while 103 for minority members were lying vacant as no candidate has filed nomination papers for these seats.
The officials said that a total of 3,23,840 registered male and female voters would exercise their right to vote. An official said that 235 polling stations and 599 polling booths have been setup for the local government polls in the district.
He said that 175 joint polling stations for male and female voters while 29 separate polling stations for female and 31 for male voters have been established. Likewise, 249 polling booths out of 599 have been setup for female while 350 for male voters.
The official said that 2,631 officials would perform duty in the election, adding another 131 reserve persons have been assigned duties to assist the polling staff. He said that the election staff was included 235 presiding officers and 599 polling officers.
Though all most all the political parties have fielded candidates and formed alliances various levels but the real contest is expected between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Awami National Party candidates.