Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged victorious in the second phase of local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On the other hand, the PDM coalition parties suffered the worst defeat. It is being seen as an indication that despite the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, the PTI has grown in popularity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the data released by the Election Commission, so far 41 results have been received in 65 tehsils of 18 districts in which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has won 23 tehsils, while six candidates of JUI, two of Jamaat-e-Islami, two of PML-N, one of Awami National Party, five independents, one of Qaumi Watan Party, and one candidate of Rah-e-Haq Party have been successful.
The PTI has won six of the seven tehsils in the hometown of KP chief minister, while the JUI-F candidate has won one seat. The PTI candidate has also won the seat of the only mayor of the Malakand Division in Tehsil Babuzai with dominance of 15,000 votes. After the landslide victory of the PTI in the second round of local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the rumors that the PTI has lost its popularity have died down.
After the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, where he was considered lonely, the sympathy of the people of KP with him has increased. According to analysts, the PTI’s victory in the province is due to record development work. Senior journalist and analyst Niaz Ahmad Khan said that record development work has been done in the eight years of the PTI government in the province in which a network of roads was laid to remote areas, hospitals were built, universities were established, record work was done in the field of education. Due to this, the people were happy with PTI and for the third time in the province a party had won with such a big lead, he added.
Niaz Khan further said that PTI workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also have their voters who are die-hard fans of Imran Khan and defend him on every front, propagate their party on social media and make him viral, which makes people here understand that “PTI is better and there is no other option”.
If we talk about phase one of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local body elections, the failure of PTI is being blamed on differences within the party. Senior journalist and chairman of Swat Press Club Saeed-ur-Rehman says that it is wrong to say that PTI has lost its popularity in the province. The failure in the first phase was due to internal party differences, but now in the second phase the people have proved once again that they are with Imran Khan.
“Most of the PTI ministers are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while the chief minister has been elected from Swat for the first time. During its eight-year rule, the PTI has carried out record development work in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in general and Swat in particular, which has further increased its popularity in the province,” he added. According to Saeed-ur-Rehman, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have placed their trust in the PTI for the third time.
