PESHAWAR, Sep 22: The Awami National Party and Jamaat-i-Islami’s joint candidate for the office of Peshawar city district nazim is faced with a tough challenge by his rival, jointly fielded by PPP, PPP-S and JUI-F, due mainly to internal differences within the Pukhtoon nationalist force.

Though the ANP leaders said that the ANP-JI candidate was set to have easy sailing, political observers and disgruntled figures within the ANP think otherwise.

ANP leaders Haji Adeel, Taj-ud-Din and Aslam Mohmand based their optimism on the fact that a large number of the candidates of ANP’s Watan Dost and JI’s Al-Khidmat groups had been elected councillors in 92 union councils of Peshawar in the recently held local body polls.

However, angry elements within the ANP, while requesting anonymity, told Dawn that ANP’s candidate for the Peshawar district nazim slot would need to put in extra effort to win the contest due the differences within the party ranks.

PPP and PPP-S have extended support to JUI-F’s Haji Ghulam Ali who has posed a potential challenge to the ANP-JI candidate Haroon Bashir Bilour.

The contest has been described by many as a ‘battle between tycoons’ with both Mr Ali and Mr Bilour possessing enormous wealth.

The ANP’s provincial president Bashir Bilour, according to the sources, is busy in wooing back ‘unhappy’ elements to get his son Haroon Bilour elected as Peshawar nazim, who has earlier served as nazim of Peshawar’s town-I.

“Though the provincial party chief did well by accommodating some of the out-spoken from among the Peshawar party leaders, his move to enter into alliance with JI to ensure smooth sailing for his son caused considerable amount of dismay among some of the district-level party leaders who aspired to get party ticket for the elections of town nazims,” said a senior ANP leader.

ANP’s decision to field Younas Jan, son of ANP leader Abdur Rehman Kafoor Dehri, for the office of nazim town-II and Arbab Aamir, step brother of ANP leader Arbab Zahir, for the office of nazim town-IV, have been described by some of the disgruntled elements as the party’s bid to accommodate some of the senior leaders.

“The ANP is likely to experience difficulties in both the towns as the nomination of Younas Jan and Arbab Aamir has not been taken well by those who aspire to contest from there,” said a source in the ANP.

According to the ANP-JI agreement, the ANP would field candidate for the offices of nazims of town-II and town-IV in addition to the office of district nazim. Whereas, the JI would field candidates for two important towns, town-I and town-III. Some of the ANP leaders expressed reservation about the party’s decision to give town-I to the JI.

“The ANP has massive support in town-I from where its candidate returned to the provincial assembly in the past. But now the JI has been given an opportunity to organize itself in the heartland of Peshawar city,” said a senior ANP leader of Peshawar.

Sources in the Pukhtoon nationalist party, meanwhile, said that differences within ANP and its refusal to accept JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s son Asif Luqman Qazi as a joint candidate for the office of the Nowshera district nazim posed a potential threat to their joint candidate at district level. They said in this scenario some of the JI councillors might not vote for ANP’s nominee in Peshawar.

The ANP did not agree to giving office of Nowshera district nazim to Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s son on the pretext that Watan Dost Group supported candidates elected nazim and naib-nazim in 11 union councils in Nowshera district in comparison with four union councils where JI supported candidates returned successful as nazim and naib nazim.

Similarly, according to the sources in the ANP, the decision to field Haroon Bashir Bilour for the office of the Peshawar city district nazim had caused dismay among some of the senior party leaders who saw the nomination as a symbol of the ANP being dominated by a few.

“As far as the Peshawar district is concerned the Bilour family has monopolised the ANP even though there are people who had joined the Pukhtoon nationalist force much before the Bilours,” said a disgruntled ANP leader.

Apart from Haroon Bilour who stands greater chance to be elected, Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour happens to be the senior vice president of the party and his brother Bashir Bilour is the provincial president and leader of the parliamentary party of the ANP in the NWFP assembly. Whereas, Mr Ilyas Bilour is one of the two representatives the party has in the Senate - other being the party chief Asfandyar Wali.

“Contesting election has become a costly affair and in Peshawar district no other leader than Bilours can afford to jump into the race,” said another leader.