Electioneering in connections with by-poll on National Assembly constituency NA-4, Peshawar IV was in full swing as the constituency is bracing for a quadruple contest on October 26. 2017. The seat had become vacant due to the death of PTI MNA Gulzar Khan; a former senior bureaucrat was elected from the constituency in the general elections of 2013 with a thumping majority. Nasir Khan Musazai of the PML-N was runner-up.
PTI has fielded Arbab Mohammad Aamir, a new entrant into the party and brother of three times ANP affiliated winner Arbab Mohammad Zahir Khan, while PML-N has fielded Nasir Musazai, its provincial secretary information and runner-up candidate of the last general elections.
Similarly, ANP has fielded a former deputy speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Khushdil Khan Advocate, while PPP has awarded ticket to Asad Gulzar, the son of the deceased PTI legislator from the constituency. The constituency in past has proved a stronghold of ANP as its candidates have been returned from the constituency in the general elections of 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2008. Other political parties including PPP, JI and PTI had remained triumphant in the constituency for one term each.
As the sitting assemblies are completing their constitutional terms and all political parties are flexing their muscles for the general polls of 2018, the by-poll on NA-4 is being considered as yardstick of popularity for the political parties. All contesting political parties are running vigorous campaign for their respective candidates.
The PPP, whose popularity is dwindling in the province of Punjab and had showed dismal performance in the recent by-poll on NA-120 Lahore, is hopeful of attracting maximum number of votes in the constituency. For this purpose, the PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari has visited KP twice during last month while Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is also scheduled to address a public meeting in the constituency on October 24.
The ruling parties in the centre and province are accusing each other of pre-poll rigging as federal government in support of its candidate has supplied pipelines for the supply of natural gas to the constituency while load shedding had also minimized in the constituency. Similarly, PTI, which is ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has also accelerated work on the solarization of mosques and tube-wells to attract voters.
Other parties like ANP and PPP, who have no such advantage are criticizing the development initiatives of the federal and provincial governments and terming them tantamount to pre-poll rigging. The candidate of PML-N is enjoying the support of other political parties like Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman of JUI-F and Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao of QWP, and a small Rah-e-Haq party while Arbab Mohammad Aamir of the PTI is being supported by the JUI-Nazriati, a breakaway faction of the JUI-F. However, the electorates of the constituency are looking annoyed with the federal government.
Talking to this scribe, a shopkeeper, Nawab Khan at Union Council Ahmad Khel was critical of the low pressure of gas and massive load shedding in the area. He said that before the announcement of the schedule of by-poll, neither Musazai nor the Advisor to Prime Minister Amir Muqaam was making any step for the resolution of the problems of the area.
Habibullah Khan, who runs a solar panel selling shop at Sheikh Mohammadi, said that previous legislators from the area had done nothing for the development of the area. However, he said that the support of JUI-F and QWP will prove beneficial for Nasir Musazai.
The PTI chief, Imran Khan had also addressed a public meeting to warm up his Tigers while Asfandyar Wali Khan is also scheduled to address a rally at Mathani. Similarly, Sheikh Yaqub, who came to limelight after standing third in the by-election of NA-120, is also in the constituency to solicit support for the candidate of Milli Muslim League (MML).
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