Candidates in Mohmand canvassing to woo voters

GHALLANAI: Electioneering has started picking up steam in the Mohmand tribal district as the election for the provincial assembly seats from the merged district is drawing near.

The candidates of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Qaumi Watan Party are running a spirited election campaign to woo the voters. The election in Mohmand district is being held for two constituencies of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly namely PK-103 and PK-104. About 32 candidates, including independents, are running for the two seats of the provincial assembly. Mohmand district has a total of 271,000 registered voters, including 62,000 women.

For PK-103, the ANP has fielded Nisar Mohmand, the PPP has put up Arshad Bakhtiar and the JUI-F has given the ticket to Maulana Gulab Noor while the PTI has fielded Qari Rahim Shah. For PK-104, JUI-F has fielded Maulana Mohammad Arif Haqqani, PTI has given the ticket to Sajjad Khan while PTI dissident Dr Mohammad Israr is also contesting the election as an independent candidate. Other candidates are also in the run for this seat. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also addressed a public meeting in Ekkaghund tehsil to drum up support for the candidate of his party. ANP provincial head Aimal Wali Khan also spoke at a gathering in Ekkaghund to seek support for his party's nominee.