ANP bags top slot in Swabi

SWABI: With the election of the nazims and naib-nazims, the Awami National Party (ANP) staged a strong comeback in the district.
The ANP had suffered a defeat in the district in the 2013 general elections and the political pundits termed its comeback in the local government elections as remarkable.
The ANP) won the district nazim slot while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) bagged the position of the district naib nazim in Swabi.
Ameer Rehman, who is district president of ANP, and Asar Khan of the JUI-F were elected district nazim and naib nazim, respectively.
Ameer Rehman, who was the joint candidate of the seven-party alliance, Swabi Democratic Alliance, polled 57 votes while his rival Azizullah Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) got 27 votes.
Asar Khan also obtained 57 votes to become the naib nazim of Swabi district while his rival Asif Iqbal of the PTI polled 27votes.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Swabi Qaumi Mahaz, ANP and JUI-F supported Ameer Rehman and Asar Khan.
The Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) and PTI were in the rival group.
In Razaar tehsil, Ghulam Haqqani of ANP was elected tehsil nazim by polling 19 votes. AJIP’s Jehanzeb Khan got 10 votes.
For the naib nazim slot, Mohammad Bilal Khan of JUI-F defeated Waqar Ali Shah of PTI. The former polled 19 votes while the latter obtained 10 votes.
In the Swabi tehsil, Wahid Shah of JI was elected tehsil nazim. He got 15 votes and his rival Fazal Khalid of PTI received seven votes. The naib nazim slot was won by Gohar Rehman of ANP. He defeated Shamasul Arifeen of the PTI. The former got 15 votes and the latter seven.
In Topi tehsil, the PTI secured the slots of the nazim and naib nazim.
Sohail Yousafzai got 14 votes and his rival Mohammad Irfan of JUI-F obtained four votes in the 18-member council.
Mohammad Younas was elected naib nazim, getting 14 votes and his rival Ali Hussain of PML-N obtained four votes.
PTI’s Sohail Khan, who polled 10 votes, was elected Chota Lahor tehsil nazim and Shahab Khan, who quit JUI-F to join the PTI, was elected naib nazim.