PESHAWAR: Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali Khan on Monday said his party would get much better results in the coming election than those held in 2008.

He was talking to the party’s office-bearers from Charsadda here at Frontier House on Monday, a news release said.

Mr Khan said ANP would get votes on the basis of its performance and he was hopeful that the people would elect them to power yet again.

He said the party’s parliamentary board had received 425 applications for 2013 elections though the number was 185 in 2008.

The ANP chief said the government had established the first-ever Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, set up six new degree colleges and built roads and social infrastructure in the province and that’s why the people would vote for ANP again.

“Our government initiated development programmes in all districts. In Chitral, we built eight new higher secondary schools in four years, where only four such facilities had existed since the creation of Pakistan.

“Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Bannu, too, received the government’s attention and no stone was left unturned to develop them,” he said.

Mr Khan said the government’s work for the development of education sector in the province was matchless in the history despite violence that killed hundreds of ANP leaders and workers.

He criticised political parties that claimed to champion the cause of Islam to reach power and said it was surprising that these parties first supported dictator Pervez Musharraf for five years and now talked about enforcement of Islamic law.

The ANP chief said his party had fulfilled its promise to rename the province as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which, he said, gave identity to million of Pakhtuns. He said attainment of provincial autonomy was another important milestone his government had achieved.

Mr Khan urged women to actively participate in elections and directed party workers to make efforts to motivate women for the purpose.

He said the casting of votes would make a difference because no country could make progress without women’s participation in the democratic struggle.

The meeting was also attended by provincial ANP president Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Charsadda district president Khalid Khan, general secretary Qasim Ali Jan and other local leaders of the party.