CHITRAL: A neck-and-neck fight is expected between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Shahzada Iftikharuddin and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Abdul Latif in NA-1 constituency, which covers both the Upper and Lower Chitral districts.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Senator Talha Mehmood, an equally potential candidate, is also in the run.

Other candidates in the constituency are Pakistan Peoples Party’s Fazle Rabbi, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Awami National Party’s Khadija Bibi and independent candidates Syeda Maimoona Shah and Mukhtar Nabi alias Pir Mukhtar.

Of the eight candidates, Maulana Abdul Akbar had returned from the constituency twice in 2002 and 2018, Iftikharuddin in 2013 on the ticket of former army ruler Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League, while Abdul Latif tried his luck vainly in 2002, 2013 and 2018.

JUI-F Senator Talha Mehmood also wooing voters

Shahzada Iftikhar has the edge of being the nominee of PML-N, which is generally considered as the ultimate winning party of the election, and the majority of the neutral voters will most likely vote for the party.

In the past, MNAs from Chitral have always been elected from the opposition parties with the result that the area lagged in development as the parliamentarians in the opposition benches were neglected in the allocation of funds.

This concept gained currency in the area during the last government when MNA Maulana Chitrali was totally ignored by the PTI as well as the PDM-led governments in the centre, and many development projects in different sectors, including road projects of Shandur, Garam Chashma and Kalash valleys, were shelved.

Being the son of Shahzada Mohyuddin, a four-time MNA from Chitral, Shahzada Iftikhar has a considerable political support in almost every village both in Upper and Lower Chitral, and the appeal of ‘vote for wining party’ may give him a solid leverage against his opponents.

PTI-backed Abdul Latif enjoys the strength of the party workers, who have started a relentless campaign for him in the length and breadth of Chitral, while they have also a strong grip over the social media platforms, which they are using to influence greater number of voters than the other parties.

PTI had won three seats of tehsil chairmen out of four in Chitral in the last local body polls as it had strengthened its position in the district by nominating Wazir Zada Kalash for its non-Muslim seat in the provincial assembly, and then elevating him to the position of special assistant to chief minister, and nominating a woman worker, Falak Naz, for a Senate seat.

During the PTI government, both Wazir Zada and Falak Naz did their best to strengthen the position of the party here.

Senator Talha Mehmood has also made his presence here and is trying desperately to emerge victorious in February 8 elections. He has successfully attracted the attention of the voters allegedly by doling out cash to the people, especially women.

The local people are already familiar with Talha Mehmood as he has married twice here and had distributed food items among the poor both in upper and lower parts of Chitral during the lockdown period of Covid-19 in 2019.

However, the numerical strength of JUI-F in Chitral is too low to give him a solid base, which may impede his triumph in the cut-throat competition.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2024

Header image: PML-N’s Shahzada Iftikharuddin (L) and PTI’s Abdul Latif (R). — Facebook

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