Five senior politicians vying for seats in Feb 8 polls

PESHAWAR: At least five senior politicians are taking part in the February 8 general election from the platform of different political parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

These seasoned parliamentarians include Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, 84, of Awami National Party, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, 80, of Qaumi Watan Party, Anwar Saifullah Khan, 79, of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pervez Khattak, 74, of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians and Maulana Gohar Shah, 74, of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl. They have been contesting polls since 1988.

Two of these veteran politicians Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Maulana Gohar Shah have not changed their political parties while the remaining ones either switched to other political parties or formed their own.

Born on December 25, 1939, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour participated as candidate for National Assembly seats in nine general elections and three-by polls from Peshawar where he had defeated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990 and lost twice to former prime minister Imran Khan in 2013 general elections and 2022 by-polls. The senior Pakhtun nationalist leader had lost to Aftab Sherpao in 1988 general elections who was contesting the election on the PPP ticket. However, Aftab Sherpao opted to retain his provincial assembly seat and was elected as chief minister of then NWFP. Ghulam Bilour was elected to the National Assembly in by-polls. In the 1993 general election, he once again lost to the PPP candidate while in 1997 general polls, Ghulam Bilour won elections but lost his only son Shabbir Ahmad Bilour as a result of clashes with rival candidate of PPP Syed Qamar Abbas.

Ghulam Bilour could not contest the 2002 election due to graduation conditions and fielded his nephew late Usman Bilour who lost to the MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) candidate by a big margin. Ghulam Bilour was so interested in electoral politics that he even did his graduation from University of Sindh, Jamshoro, despite his old age. In the 2008 general election, the elderly Ghulam Bilour made it to the National Assembly but in 2013 lost to PTI leader Imran Khan. However, he retained his National Assembly constituency in the by-polls. In 2018, he lost to the PTI candidate Shaukat Ali. In 2022 by-polls, Imran Khan defeated both the senior Bilour and ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan in his hometown Charsadda.

In his political career, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour served as federal minister both in PMLN and PPP government while survived a suicide attack in Peshawar. His younger brother Bashir Ahmad Bilour and nephew Haroon Bilour were killed in separate suicide attacks during elections campaign in Peshawar. He is the ANP candidate for NA-32 Peshawar in the upcoming polls.

Born on August 20, 1944, Aftab Sherpao entered active politics in 1975 after his brother Hayat Khan Sherpao’s death and contested and won elections in 1977 and defeated Sherbaz Mazari of National Awami Party. He became chief minister of the NWFP after the 1988 general election where he had won National Assembly and provincial assembly seats from Peshawar. In the 1990 general election, he made it to the provincial assembly and was opposition leader till 1993 but lost the National Assembly seat in Peshawar in the same elections. In 1994, Aftab Sherpao once again was elected as chief minister of the province but this time after a successful no-confidence vote against PMLN and ANP Pir Sabir Shah in the provincial assembly. He faced only one defeat in his political career when he lost the 2018 general election.

Besides being elected chief minister for two times, Aftab Sherpao also served as minister of interior and minister for Water and Power. In 1999, he developed differences with the then PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and formed his own faction of the PPP-Sherpao. After winning the 2008 general election, he renamed his party as Qaumi Watan Party and started nationalist politics. He will now contest for NA-24 Charsadda in February 08 polls.

Aftab Sherpao has survived four assassination attempts, including suicide attacks. In April 2007, he was injured in a suicide attack on his public gathering in Charsadda where about 22 people were killed.

In his second attempt on his life, Aftab Sherpao and his politician son Sikandar Sherpao narrowly escaped a suicide attack at a mosque in Sherpao village on Eid Day while his younger son Mustafa Khan was injured in the attack. About 57 people were killed in the attack. He survived another terrorist attack on his life in 2015 in Shabqadar tehsil in Charsadda.

Anwar Saifullah Khan, 79, will contest for PK-107 Lakki Marwat as independent candidate and also submitted nomination papers for NA-43 Tank on the PPP ticket. The Saifullah family has been active in electoral politics since 1970 and Anwar Saifullah and his brother Salim Saifullah were elected to the Senate of Pakistan, National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly several times. His younger brother and senior parliamentarian Salim Saifullah Khan will contest for NA-41 Lakki Marwat in Feb 08 polls. The family had changed its political association and loyalty from time to time. Anwar Saifullah served as federal minister both in Muslim League-Nawaz and PPP governments in 90s.

Born on January 1, 1950 Pervez Khattak will contest for NA-33 Nowshera and two provincial assembly constituencies in February 08 polls who started his electoral politics from 1983 when he was elected as member district council Nowshera. He contested all general elections from 1988 to 2018 except for 2002 when he was district nazim of Nowshera in the General Musharraf regime. His brother Liaqat Khattak was elected to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on PPP-Sherpao ticket in 2002 polls. Pervez Khattak changed his political loyalty after winning the 2008 general election and quit PPP-Sherpao and joined the PPP to get a place in the ANP-PPP coalition government. In 2013, Pervez Khattak was elected to provincial assembly on the PTI ticket and became chief minister of the province. He served from 2013 to 2018. In the 2018 polls, he won the National Assembly and provincial assembly constituency from Nowshera and was made minister for defence.

After the May 9 mayhem, Pervez Khattak formed his own faction of the PTI and is running its election campaign in the province.

Maulana Gohar Shah, 74, is another veteran politician from Charsadda running for NA-25 on the JUIF ticket. His main rivals are Aimal Wali Khan of ANP and Fazl Mohammad Khan of PTI. He has been contesting elections for national and provincial assembly seats since 1988. In the 2002 general election, he was elected to the National Assembly on the MMA ticket. He had defeated ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan by a big margin.

In 2008 polls, he lost but in 2013, he defeated PTI candidate Fazl Mohammad Khan and ANP’s Asfandyar Wali. He belongs to an average family in Charsadda and has served as administrator of a seminary in the district.