PESHAWAR: The by-elections in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were held peacefully on Sunday.

In Peshawar, the by-polls in PK-78, Peshawar-XIII, were held in a peaceful environment as the workers of various political parties remained confined to their election camps near the polling stations on City Circular Road at different places in Kohati, Lahori Gate and interior city localities.

The police had also set up checkpoints in some of the most sensitive areas as the capital city police officer Qazi Jamilur Rehman and Brig Shakirullah of 102 Brigade jointly visited parts of the constituency to check the security arrangements.

The CCPO said that over 2,000 policemen had been deployed for security duty in the constituency in addition to installation of CCTV cameras to check movement of suspected people.

The law enforcers also remained active in and outside the polling stations to carry out body search of the voters, but the supporters of different candidates also remained peaceful.

During visits to various polling stations, it was observed that unlike past the people did not show enthusiasm for supporting their candidates. A number of candidates were in the run, but of them the workers of Awami National Party and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf were comparatively more active who were seen transporting the voters in their vehicles to the polling stations.

However, participation of women voters was next to nil till midday. Some women holding flags of their respective political parties were seen moving in different streets in Lahori Gate and outside Yakatoot localities.

The election staff said that female voters rarely came for casting votes in the morning, saying polling on the off day, Sunday, could also be a reason for disinterest on part of the female voters. The political leaders, including Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Ilyas Bilour, MNA Haji Shaukat Ali and others, also visited different polling stations to encourage their workers.

Unlike past, the rush of people was not seen. The people said that voters were not taking interest to come out at their own mainly due to fear of any untoward incident.

The general election in PK-78, Peshawar, was postponed due to the death of ANP candidate Haroon Bilour in a suicide attack during his election campaign. The party has now awarded ticket to Samar Bilour, widow of the slain leader.

It was learnt that the political parties, including Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and Jamaat-i-Islami, had also withdrawn their candidates in support of the ANP candidate, but their workers were not seen in her campaign.

Sharing their opinion about the by-polls, some of the people even belonging to the PTI said that voters were least bothered to visit the polling stations as the wrong policies of the government, which led to unprecedented price hike, had disappointed them in its initial two months.

In Dera Ismail Khan, the polling process completed peacefully where majority of the voters visited the polling stations after the midday. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the area, police had tightened security.

Similarly, the polls in PK-53, Mardan-VI, were held peacefully. However, no enthusiasm was observed among voters of the relevant provincial assembly constituency compared to the July 25 general elections. The seat had been vacated by ANP provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti who opted to retain his NA-21 seat.

The five candidates, including Ahmad Khan Bahadar of ANP, Abdus Salam Afridi of PTI, Musawir Khan, retired Major Akbar Shah and Wilayat Khan, contested the by-polls in PK-53 constituency.

In Swat, the turnout of voters also remained low in both the provincial assembly constituencies, PK-3 and PK-7, Swat, while the women voters turnout was minimal. The PK-3 constituency was vacated by Dr Haider Ali of PTI who was elected from both PK-3 and NA-2, Swat-I. The PK-7 was vacated by Amjad Ali of PTI as he was elected from two constituencies in the general elections.

All the opposition parties had collectively decided to field only the runner-up candidates of the general elections against PTI in the by-elections. As per the decision, ANP candidate Waqar Khan in PK-7 and PML-N candidate Sardar Ahmad Khan in PK-3 contested the elections against the PTI’s Fazal Maula in PK-7 and Sajid Ahmad in PK-3.

In Nowshera,by-elections were held peacefully in two provincial assembly constituencies on Sunday. The women voters were stopped at two polling stations at Govt Girls High School and Govt Primary School, Zara Mena, and the matter was later brought into the notice of returning officer. After successful negotiations with local leaders the women were allowed to cast their votes at both the polling stations.

Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak polled his vote at his native village Manki Sharif where his brother Liaquat Khattak was contesting election in PK-64 against ANP’s Shahid Khan Khattak.

After casting his vote, Pervez Khattak told mediapersons that he hoped that PTI would win the elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was interesting to note that the five-party alliance of opposition could not produce its political agents at some polling stations, including Govt Primary School, Ziarat Kaka Sahib and some polling stations of Akbarpura.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2018