MIANWALI: A wave of delight spread in the district when Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan announced to retain his hometown seat of Mianwali and leave all other seats he won at from other constituencies.

As expected, the people of Mianwali showed their love for Imran and gave his party a win in the district with thumping majority. Now they are waiting to see him as the prime minister.

Imran Khan secured 163,538 votes from NA-95 against his Haji Obaidullah Khan Shadikhel of the PML-N who got only 50,015 votes. The vote difference between Imran and Haji Obaid is evident of the fact that the voters rejected the old political bigwigs of district like Nawabs of Kalabagh, Shadikhels, Rokhris, Bhachars and Joyias.

Pins hopes on PTI chief for development

After 2013 election, Imran had left Mianwali seat which was a disappointment for his voters and they showed their resentment against the PTI chief’s decision in the by-election on the seat. In the by-poll, they had rejected PTI candidate Nawabzada Abdul Waheed Khan of Kalabagh and voted for Haji Obaidullah Khan Shadikhel. During the election campaign this time, Imran’s rivals told the voters that the PTI leader would again leave the Mianwali seat, if elected, and it was useless to vote for him. The voters did not pay heed to this tactics of Imran’s rivals and the prime minister-in-waiting has not disappointed them this time.

Mianwali’s leader in the PM’s House would be a great honour for this backward area. The district got prominence at the national level many decades ago when the late Nawab Amir Muhammad Khan of Kalabagh was governor of West Pakistan and he is still remembered in the region. This district has also distinction of sending their representatives to parliament like Maulana Abdul Sattar Khan Niazi and Dr Sher Afgan Niazi who served as federal ministers in different eras,

Now the elections are over the process of formation of the new government is going on but the youngsters are still celebrating the PTI victory by taking out motorcycle rallies in the city almost daily. The people of NA-95 are expecting that Imran would provide them with drinking water, jobs and other facilities to raise the level of their lifestyle.

NA-95 Mianwali (I) is spread over a vast hilly area, adjacent to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a belt having Pashto-speaking population. Most of the people of this Pashto-speaking belt are serving in the armed forces.

It is interesting to note that in this modern age, the people of this constituency still get drinking water from same ponds as are used by their animals. The area lacks other basic facilities health service, education and link roads. It is yet to be seen how Imran uplifts the life of his voters after becoming the PM of the country.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2018