TAXILA, Feb 14: It appears the biradari factor would override party affiliations in the contest for provincial assembly seats, in particular PP-7 comprising rural and urban areas of Taxila and rural areas of Chakri and Sihal. The three main candidates are hopeful with their tall claims and lofty promises which the people listen to with amusement.

Shafique Khan who is contesting on PML-Q ticket is considered a strong contender with his elder brother former federal Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Taxila Tehsil Nazim Sadeeq Khan backing him.

However a tough contest between PML-Q, PML-N and an independent candidate Kamran Aslam is gathering strength.

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto gives an edge to the PPP but due to late start of and differences over issuance of the ticket combines with the clan factor are going to queer the pitch. Delay in the elections has also harmed the prospects of the ‘Q’ league due to wheat flour, power and gas crises.

Although there are six candidates for PP-7 including Muhammad Shafique Khan (PML-Q), Zille Huma (PML-N), Chaudhry Kamran Aslam (Independent), Askari Hassan Syed (PPP), Hafiz Muhammad Haroon (JUI-F) and Malik Muhammad Khalid (Independent) but the three main candidates are seen as Shafiq Khan, Zille Huma and Chaudhry Kamran Aslam.

This constituency that earlier figured as PP-5 has its own geo-political significance as on the one side it comprises Taxila city with its 8 union councils including three of the urban areas and the Cantonment area while on the other hand miles away are Chakri and Sahil with a rural populace characterised by clan biases dividing the Gujjar, Khattar, Awan, Kashmiri and Syed biradaries.

At the same time in the Urban areas especially in Taxila old city, people have strong political affiliations that override clan politics.

This constituency has 167,574 registered voters, including 88,226 male and 79,348 female. While total population of tehsil Taxila is 471,612, whereas CNICs have been issued to only 240,000 adults. There will be 157 polling stations in the constituency.

Shahfeeq Khan, a former banker, is a new face but with strong backing.

The PML-N candidate is also a fresh entry in the politics of the area. She is the wife of former MPA Umar Farooq of Kohistan group. She has not so far made any public appearance nor addressed any public meeting. Her election campaign is being run by her husband and PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Her position has further strengthened after party chief Nawaz Sharif’s public meeting.

Chaudhry Kamran Aslam, an independent and formerly a parliamentary secretary, had won the 2002 elections with a huge margin of 35,583 by beating PML-N candidate Safeer Khan with 25518 votes.

He later joined the King’s party and was appointed as provincial parliamentary secretary. He later parted way with his group and is now contesting on the National as well as provincial assembly seat as independent candidate. The Khattar and Gujjar baradries in Chakri and Sahil are supporting him.

The boycott of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) would also play a very significant role as a sizable vote of the religious parties exists in the area and its absence can also affect the election results. However the N league leaders claim that they would grab the votes of the religious-minded people.