TAXILA: Two political families have fielded their relatives for the by-election in NA-63 Taxila which was vacated by PTI leader and Federal Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan.

The minister succeeded to get the PTI ticket for his son Mansoor Hayat Khan while the PML-N awarded the ticket to Barrister Aqeel Malik, a nephew of its former MPA Haji Umer Farooq. Both the candidates are trying their luck for the first time.

The political landscape of the constituency is changing fast after the involvement of the two influential families.

The small village of Pind Nowsheri located near Margalla Hills has become the centre of power for decades as Ghulam Sarwar remained health minister in Benazir Bhutto’s first government, minister for labour and power in Musharraf regime and is now the vice president of the PTI and a federal minister.

Besides, his brother Mohammad Shafeeq Khan remained MPA in the Musharraf era and another brother Sadeeq Khan was the tehsil nazim for 10 years. In the 2013 elections, Mr Sadeeq was elected MPA by beating Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. After the death of Mr Sadeeq, his son Ammar Sadeeq Khan contested by-polls but lost to Haji Umer Farooq. However, he defeated Mr Farooq in the July 25 elections.

Haji Umer Farooq, a close political aide of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, contested the July 25 elections as an independent candidate.

On the other hand, PML-N Rawalpindi President Sardar Mumtaz Khan’s efforts to get a party ticket for the by-election did not bear fruit.

The PML-N has not so far launched any aggressive electioneering in the constituency and is mourning the death of party supremo Nawaz Sharif’s wife Kulsoom Nawaz.

According to Dr Syed Sabir Ali, a political observer, the young candidates for the seat did not rise through the ranks or worked for their constituencies at the grassroots level.

Asim Meer, another political observer, said political parties were flooded with second and third generation politicians that did not have the experience or the motivation to work for the betterment of voters of their constituencies.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2018