Independent candidates supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf have handed all major political parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a stunning election thrashing in their strongholds.
The Awami National Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Qaumi Watan Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and Pakistan Peoples Party all suffered setbacks in their home fights on Thursday’s general elections.
Among the notable also-rans was Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the emir of JUI-F, who campaigned for office in his birthplace of Dera Ismail Khan (NA-44 seat) but was defeated by Ali Amin Gandapur, an independent supported by the PTI and fierce competitor.
Additionally, Mr. Gandapur beat Mr. Fazl in the most recent 2018 general elections.
According to a provincial spokesman for the JUI-F Maulana Abdul Jalil Jan, his party’s 12 members were elected to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in 2018 but it got one National Assembly and six PA seats in the 2024 polls. Noor Alam Khan was elected MNA from Peshawar in Thursday’s polls.
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The party had anticipated more than thirty PA seats in the province, therefore the spokesperson described the election loss as a blow.
He said, “Our executive committee has called an emergency meeting to review the post-election situation.”
The fall of party leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the PML-N’s bastion of NA-15 Mansehra-cum-Torghar also upset the party. The PTI-backed Prince Mohammad Gastasab Khan defeated him in the election. According to a local PML-N office-bearer who spoke to Dawn, the workers were quite dissatisfied with Mr. Sharif’s setback, and the party’s leadership was taken aback by it. The PTI-backed independent Fazal Mohammad Khan defeated ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan in the NA-25 (Charsadda-II) race.
After accepting the loss in the election, Mr. Hoti announced his resignation from the party, citing “public opinion” as the reason for his decision. Sardar Hussain Babak, the provincial general secretary of the ANP, was likewise unsuccessful in PK-22 Buner, after winning the seat in the elections held in 2008, 2013, and 2018. Similarly, Sirajul Haq, the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, ran for office from NA-6 Lower Dir but was not successful. He lost against PTI-backed independent candidate Muhammad Bashir Khan. From the tribal district of Bajaur, the Jamaat gained two seats in the provincial parliament.
The religious-political party also lost badly in the Upper and Lower Dir districts, which were formerly its strongholds, in the elections. The JI won the majority of national and provincial assembly seats in the last elections thanks to the Malakand Division.
Inayatullah Khan and Siraj Ahmad, two of its members, were chosen as Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidates in 2018 and were elected as MPAs from Upper Dir and Bajaur, respectively. Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitral, who is a member of Jamaat as well, was chosen as the MMA’s nominee for MNA in Chitral.
Despite winning the provincial assembly seat in 2002, Inayatullah Khan refrained from running in the 2008 election due to his party’s boycott of polling. But he won the seat back in the 2013 elections and held onto it in 2018.
In its strongholds, the Qaumi Watan Party was unable to secure a single national or provincial assembly seat. QWP province chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao lost the election, as did its central chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan, who ran as a candidate in NA-24 Charsadda-I against Maulana Gohar Ali Shah of the JUI-F.
Two National Assembly seats, one from each of the Kurram tribal districts and Dera Ismail Khan district, and four provincial assembly seats—two from Peshawar and three from Dera Ismail Khan district—were won by the Pakistan Peoples Party. Nevertheless, Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha, the province president, lost the election on Thursday. The PA strength was slightly strengthened by the PPP.
Its lone candidate for the National Assembly, Sajid Khan Turi, became victorious in the 2018 elections. He ran for office from the tribal district of Kurram. In the election on Thursday, Mr. Turi kept his position. The winner was also a PPP candidate from the district of Dera Ismail Khan.