HARIPUR, Aug 23: Owing to success of candidates supported by Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan, the Tareens are set to stage a comeback in local politics and chances of their capturing both tehsil and district nazims’ posts in Haripur brightened up.

In the elections on Aug 18, candidates for the posts of nazim, naib nazim and councillors backed by the minister have won in 30 of the 45 union councils in the district.

The elected nazims of the group include, Shahid Amin Khan Tareen from north Haripur union council, Riaz Khan Tareen from Rehana, Saeed Khan Abbasi from Shah Maqsood, Zahid Akhtar Khan from Kholian, Salim Khan from Bagra, Malik Abdul Rasheed from Pandak, Sikandar Hayat Khan from Khalabat, Sardar Salim Khan from Tarbela, Safdar Zaman from Sera-i-Saleh, Abdul Malik from Ladar Mang, Ehjaz Khan from Jati Pind, Abdul Salam Khan from Panian, Sarwar Khan from Baka, Haji Ashraf Tareen from Dingi, Saeed Khan from Tofkian, Abdul Ghani from Bareela, Khurshid Awan from Dheenda, Malik Akram from Hattar, Asif Ali Jah from Beer, Akhtar Ali from Nara Amazai and Abdul Salam from Ali Khan.

Abdul Salam was the Jamaat-i-Islami’s candidate but he enjoyed the support of the minister against the Raja Amer Zaman group.

A candidate supported by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Sardar Haroon, has been elected nazim of the Kotnajibullah union council.

In Ghazi tehsil, candidates backed by PML-N leader Pir Sabir Shah have been elected nazims of four of eight union councils.

Yusuf Ayub Khan of the PML-N, a cousin of Omar Ayub and one of the expected contenders for the district nazim’s post, is also claiming support of some members from the minister of state’s group.

SUICIDE: A young man committed suicide in village Talokar here on Monday. Family sources told police that Aqil-ur-Rhman, 24, shot himself dead with a 30-bore pistol after locking himself in a room. Reason behind the suicide could not be known.