Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Minister Kamran Bangash has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would win all the seats in KP’s local body elections.
While speaking to Minute Mirror, the education minister said, “PTI is the only party that has contestants in all 66 constituencies. We are very hopeful that people will again show their support to PTI as they have always stood by our side.”
The election is on December 19 in 17 districts and almost in all the districts, the campaign is in full swing. Peshawar’s main roads are decorated with banners and posters of different candidates.
All the candidates are holding corner meetings and calling gatherings to inform people as to their intentions following victory in the elections.
On the other hand, the ground situation shows a mixed reaction from the people. People seem angry at the PTI government’s performance due to the high inflation. However, some of the hardcore supporters are still looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.
Zeeshan, a 23-year-old from Peshawar said, “My father had to go through some medical procedure which was very costly for us and due to the facility of the healthcare card, he got his treatment free of cost.”
Meanwhile, Awami National Party’s (ANP) Provincial President Aimal Wali Khan, while speaking at a corner meeting on Sunday, asked people to reject PTI’s slogan of ‘change’.
He said, “ANP is the only party which can bring Peshawar’s old glory back and people have now seen that PTI cannot deliver.”
ANP’s provincial spokesperson Samar Haroon Bilour, Haji Sher Rehman and Abidullah Abid were also present at the corner meeting.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which is an alliance of major opposition parties, has also failed to be on one page for the local bodies elections.
In Peshawar, the opposition parties seem to be aligned only for one seat, that of the mayor, on which Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML- N) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) will be supporting JUI-F.
Zubair Ali, who is contesting the seat on JUI-F’s ticket, has the support from the aforementioned opposition parties. However, the members of the alliance do not see this decision as a collective one under the banner of PDM.
Replying to a query about the opposition, Bangash said, “The opposition could give us a tough time if they all had supported one candidate, but all the parties have gone solo in the elections which has given us an edge politically. In Peshawar they have come together for the mayor’s seat, but we have a strong ground in Peshawar.”
