Out of the hometown into parliament

LAHORE: Two noted political figures and top leaders of their respective political parties had to win a seat from a different province to become Parliamentarian after suffering defeat from their own hometown.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the Chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Aimal Wali Khan, the top leader of Awami National Party are now the members of Lower and Upper House of Parliament (Senate) respectively despite losing their ancestral seats in their respective hometowns.

Aimal Wali Khan, who hails from Charsadda, a district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has become a Senator now, and interestingly, not from KP but from Balochistan where a local resident was supposed to be the member as Senate is the House which is meant to ensure equal representation of all the four provinces of Pakistan and Federal Capital under one roof.

After two consecutive general elections defeat, the Awami National Party (ANP) top leader Aimal Wali Khan was fielded from a Balochistan seat in the recent Senate elections. Aimal Wali Khan, son of Asfandyar Wali, grandson of Khan Abdul Wali Khan was unable to win the 2018 and 2024 general election from his hometown, Charsadda.

Aimal Wali Khan's grandfather, Khan Abdul Wali Khan won from the same district in 1988 while it was NA 5. Wali Khan lost the NA seat in 1990 in the hands of Molvi Hassan Jan but his wife Begum Naseem Wali won the Provincial Assembly seat. Asfandyar Wali, the father of Aimal, won this ancestral seat of Charsadda in 1993, 1997 and 2008 elections. Aimal Wali Khan has not been able to win the Provincial as well as National Assembly seat in the two general elections he contested.

In the 2024 general elections, Aimal Wali Khan lost from NA 25, Charsadda in the hands of PTI-backed candidate Fazal Muhammad Khan. In 2018, he lost from PK-58, Charsadda. However, through an understanding with PPP, he was fielded from Balochistan for a Senate seat that he has won now.

Second noted political figure whose hometown falls in Dera Ismael Khan, a KP district is Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the JUIF Chief also lost in 2018 and hard luck story continued for him in 2024 as well when he was defeated by the same candidate, Ali Amin Gandapur, the PTI-backed candidate who is the KP CM now. However, the soil of Balochistan proved lucky for him as he won the NA-265 seat that falls in district Pishin.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman and before him, his father Mufti Mehmood have won the National Assembly seat from their hometown Dera Ismael Khan for multiple terms. Even, his son became the member of Parliament, however, Maulana Fazlur Rehman lost for second consecutive time in his native district but was elected in Balochistan.

In this way, two KP-based politicians after suffering defeat from their hometown are in Parliament from a different province, whose people's major concern is that the matters related to them are still decided by Islamabad or the ruling elite, not themselves.