HARIPUR: A state of uncertainty is visible among the newly-elected chairmen of the village and neighbourhoodcouncils of Haripur about their development plans following the election of the tehsil chairmen from the opposition.

During the Dec 19 local body elections, PML-N nominees Raja Haroon Sikandar and Syed Qasim Shah emerged as winners against the ruling PTI’s candidates for the slots of Khanpur and Ghazi tehsil chairmanship, respectively.

While independent candidate Samiullah Khan, believed to have enjoyed the tacit support of the PML-N’s voters, too, won the chairmanship of Haripur tehsil by a big margin despite serious efforts by federal minister Omar Ayub Khan and his cousins, including provincial minister Arshad Ayub Khan and MPA Akbar Ayub Khan, (Khan brothers) for PTI candidate Akhtar Nawaz Khan.

Though the Provincial Election Commission has yet to officially declare election results, the local PTI leaders, which was upset by the unexpected electoral defeat and wants to show that their vote bank is intact, gathered the elected chairmen and councilors from different VCs and NCs at one of their houses and got them to fill the PTI’s basic membership forms afresh.

PTI claims winning support of majority of village council chairmen

The PTI sources claimed that out of a of total 124 VCs and NCs chairmen, the party’s strength in the Haripur tehsil council made majority with 107 members excluding those yet to be notified as members elected onreserved seats.

They said in Khanpur tehsil council, the Khan brothers had mustered the support of 20 chairmen out of a total of 24 and that they all had filled the PTI’s basic membership forms showing that there would be only a few chairmen and members left in the camp of newly-elected tehsil chairman belonging to the PML-N.

Another PTI source told Dawn that some other council chairmen had secretly approached the party’s leadership to show their support to the Khan brothers.

“The prevailing situation is of great concern for each member of tehsil council, who wonder how they will ensure the smooth running of business when the chairmen of two tehsil councils belong to the opposition camps of a sitting MNA and two MPAs, who publicly announced that the major sources of funding lie with them compared to the tehsil chairmen,” said a VC chairman requesting anonymity.

Another NC chairman quoted federal minister Omar Ayub Khan as saying during the same meeting with newly-elected tehsil council chairmen and member that a tehsil chairman could disburse only a meagre amount of Rs562,600 to each of VC/NC.

He said the purchase of a power transformer and two poles would exhaust the money.

Urging his group’s members to forge unity, the federal minister informed them about the future funding from the Asian Development Bank and other foreign lenders agencies and said the chairmen-elect should stay in contact with him, minister Arshad Ayub Khan and Akbar Ayub Khan regarding ongoing and future development projects.

Another VC chairman told Dawn that though the direct election of tehsil members had brought about a balance of power in the district with Rajgans of Khanpur and Utmanzais of Khalabat Township, the political rivalry indicated that the ultimate losers would be the people of two tehsils.

“If both sides continue with the ‘leg pulling’ of each other against the larger interest of the people in Haripur, there will be no use of our staying as mere rubber stamp attesting CNICs and birth, death and marriage certificates,” said another chairman.

He appeared to be irked by the ongoing verbose and tug-of-war among rival political families over the powers of council chairmen.

When contacted, chairman-elect of Haripur tehsil council Samiullah Khan rejected the claim of the PTI leadership regarding winning the support of majority tehsil members and said the situation would be clearer within a week regarding majority in the council.

He, however, said he would manage his council’s business in line with rules and with the coordinationof all councillors and district administration.

“Though there are rumors about the powers of council chairmen, I am satisfied with the rules of business and will go by the book for smooth running of the house,” he said.

Raja Haroon Sikandar, the chairman-elect of the Khanpur tehsil council, also declared the PTI’s leadership claim of mustering support of majority chairmen as political bluff.

The situation is a bit different in Ghazi tehsil, where the PTI’s former district leadership and assembly members evinced little interest in the election helping PML-N candidate Syed Qasim Shah become the tehsil chairman. The PTI nominee stood third in the election.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2021