PESHAWAR: There are very rich candidates in the Senate election being held, but there are also a few who are less resourceful. One such candidate is Bahramand Khan Tangi, who has been working in the development sector on a salaried job.
Bahramand Tangi may or may not win the election for the Senate being held today, but he is over the moon that the leadership of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) gave him the ticket and thus rewarded an ordinary but committed party worker.
"I am the poorest candidate among the contestants for the Senate. I feel honoured that my party leader Asif Ali Zardari chose me ahead of important and wealthy candidates and unexpectedly gave me the PPP ticket," he told The News.
Bahramand Tangi, who has remained loyal to the PPP all his life after joining it during his student life, said his selection as candidate had raised the morale of party workers and helped increase the popularity graph of the PPP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "On the social media, my selection has received tremendous support. Whether it is Facebook or other web sites, my candidature has been widely backed. A party worker like me getting the PPP ticket to contest for Senate is something unbelievable," he added.
Bahramand Tangi, who belongs to Tangi area in Charsadda district, is one of the 14 candidates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the seven Senate seats. Beside him, Faisal Sakhi Butt hailing from Islamabad is also the PPP candidate for Senate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Concerning Faisal Sakhi Butt's candidature from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even though he doesn't belong to the province, former President Asif Ali Zardari was quoted as saying in a recent TV interview that his in-laws are from Peshawar and that would help him to get at least four votes. However, the PPP has only seven MPAs, including Ziaullah Afridi who was expelled from the PTI and has now joined the PPP.
These seven MPAs aren't enough even to elect one Senator as the need for winning one seat in the Senate is 15 votes in KP. When confronted with this question, Bahramand Tangi said his party leadership has made efforts to make alliances with other parties to win Senate seats.
Sounding hopeful, he said most MPAs from other parties that he had met for seeking their votes told him that they would give him their second and third priority votes. "Some of the MPAs told me that they wanted to support me as I was a poor and committed political worker and deserved to win. "I am getting unexpected support from the lawmakers," he disclosed.