ABBOTTABAD: With the second phase of local body elections around a fortnight away, candidates for councillor, tehsil chairman and mayor slots are seen making frantic efforts here to woo voters.

However, groupings along ethnic and social lines (janba) and ‘patronage’ are likely to influence the March 31 electoral exercise more than political ideologies and other factors.

There are 43 candidates for three tehsil chairman seats and one tehsil mayor’s.

Four independents and nominees of the PML-N, PPP, PTI, TLP, JUI-F, Jamaat-i-Islami, PAT, Tehreek Suba Hazara and JUI-S are running for mayor.

The election for the chairmanship of tehsil Havelian, lower Tanawal and Lora, is interesting as besides nominees of political parties, scions of influential families and those engaged in family feuds are also in the electoral arena this time around.

43 vying for one tehsil mayor, three chairman seats However, the contest for Abbottabad mayor slot is in the spotlight due to the presence of members of two major political families and a couple of other candidates claiming to have an unwavering support of voters.

As for political families, PMLN nominee is former MPA Sardar Shamon Yar Khan, the son of seasoned politician and former governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan. He faces PTI candidate Sardar Shujah Nabi, paternal grandson of former provincial minister Sardar Ghulam Nabi.

Analysts insist Shujah, a relative of former chief election commissioner retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza, is not much familiar with voters as he spent most of his life in Australia and got active in the PTI a couple of years ago after his father’s death.

Also, the PTI is facing a difficult time due to declining popularity and uncertainty about the future of its government. Preference to Shujah Nabi over Ghazanfar Abbasi on the recommendation of MPAs and MNA is another reason for discord in the ruling party. Workers complain about the failure of two MNAs and four MPAs to execute development projects.

Situation of the opposition PML-N is no different. Though Sardar Shamoon, who banks on his father’s political wisdom and vote bank, is apparently a formidable candidate, the party’s internal rifts are the matter of grave concern for him.

Sardar Mehtab patched up differences with local MNA Murtaza Javed Abbasi at the intervention of the party’s high command but the district chapter led by Muhabat Awan and Zulfiqar Javed Abbasi, younger brother of MNA Murtaza Javed, have yet to mend fences with Sardar Mehtab. They are not happy with Sardar Mehtab’s decision of bypassing the local chapter.

Some insiders say the opposition of Sardar Shamoon by the district chapter shows that the lower ranks of the PML-N, who are in the fold of Murtaza Javed Abbasi group, are still not happy.

Differences of retired Captain Safdar with the Mehtab group and disinterest of former PML-N MPA Inayat Khan Jadoon in Sardar Shamoon’s election are also forcing the PML-N workers to think twice before voting for him.

Another tehsil mayor candidate is former district nazim Sardar Sher Bahadur, who, despite having backdoor contacts with the ruling PTI, is struggling to prove that he is a real threat to both PML-N and PTI.

He enjoys the support of considerable urban voters due to development projects he had launched as the district nazim in 2015-16. He is contesting as an independent candidate and has succeeded in attracting crowds in some areas and claiming support of former minister Sardar Mohammad Idrees and Dr Qazi Adnan Bashir of the PPP and Maulana Abdullah of the Ahle Sunnatwal Jamaat.

However, it remains to be seen how Sher Bahdur draws strength from the internal differences of PTI and PML-N on the election day.

Jamaat-i-Islami candidate Abdul Razzaq Abbasi is also popular among 13 candidates for the Abbottabad mayor slot.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2022