Tough contest for NA-18 Swabi

SWABI: A tough contest is expected among candidates of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in National Assembly constituency NA-18.

The candidates said the recent delimitation of the constituencies by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had created a host of problems for them.

The NA-18 has 449,036 registered voters, including 196,521 women.

About 13 candidates, including six independents, have locked horns to compete against one another.

PTI’s Asad Qaiser, who is former speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, ANP’s Muhammad Islam and PML-N’s Sajjad Ahmad are some of the prominent candidates.

“The contest is interesting but highly complicated due to various reasons,” Sajjad Ahmad remarked.

In the 2002 general election, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Maulana Khalil Ahmad had won the seat. He had polled 50,096 votes.

In the 2008 general election, Pervez Khan of ANP unexpectedly won because the constituency was not considered a stronghold of the nationalist party. He had received 26,603 votes.

In the 2013 general election, Asad Qaiser emerged victorious with 48,576 votes. He vacated the seat and opted for the then PK-35. His brother Aqibullah Khan won it in the by-election.

Asad Qaiser, Muhammad Islam and Sajjad Ahmad are considered the leading constants.

Asad Qaiser’s position is strong in Topi tehsil and some other areas which were part of the then former NA-13.

However, union council Saleem Khan, Maneri Payan, Maneri Bala, Swabi Khas, Maneri Swabi and Panjpir were not part of his constituency but now these areas have been included after the recent delimitation.

The ticket to Muhammad Islam was awarded after it was withdrawn from Shahnawaz Khan.

Sarfaraz Khan Jadoon was also given the ticket while Faisal Zaman got it.

Now Shahnawaz and Sarfaraz are contesting the election as independent candidates.