SWABI, April 16: The Awami National Party is likely to face a tough time from its own dissidents in the May 11 elections in Swabi district, which is considered to be its stronghold.

Local political analysts say the decision of young voters will determine election results as their favour to a specific party or candidate will be crucial.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has registered around 133,511 new voters in the district increasing the total tally of electorates to 705,918.

Swabi district has 1.8 million population and consists of Swabi, Chota Lahor, Topi and Razaar tehsils.

It has two National Assembly and six provincial assembly seats.

In the 2008 elections, Usman Khan Tarakai of Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan had defeated ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan in NA-12, while Pervez Khan of ANP won in NA-13.During the last assemblies, eight of the 11 MNAs and MPAs from the district were from ANP. They included one woman MNA and two women MPAs elected on reserved seats.

The track record of ANP in Swabi shows that the district has remained a stronghold of the Red Shirt Movement’s members.

In the 1988 elections, late Abdul Khaliq Khan of Mardan had contested from Swabi and had defeated Abdul Mastan Khan of PPP.

In the 1990 general elections, ANP’s Haji Rehmanullah defeated Saleem Khan Advocate of Pakistan Democratic Alliance with a margin of 23,159 votes.

Maulana Fazlullah of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, who was backed by Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League and other religious parties, defeated Mr Rehmanullah in the 1993 elections.

Mr Fazlullah got 55,055 votes against 49,349 votes of his opponent.

In 1998, Rehmanullah was declared victorious by securing 39,828 votes against his opponent, Iftikhar Ahmed of PML-N, who received 36,589 votes.

In 2002, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Mohammad Usman of Jamaat-i-Islami won from NA-12, Swabi-I, and Maulana Khalil Ahmad of JUI-F emerged successful from NA-13, Swabi-II.

In all previous elections, men cast vote in large numbers but women’s participation was very low.

In NA-12, Swabi-I, voters total 345,869, including 197,791 men and 148,078 women. The votes polled in this constituency during the 2008 elections were 111,398.

In NA-13, Swabi-II, the total voters are 360,049, including 208,298 men and 151,751 women. The votes polled during the last elections were 105,380.

In PK-31, Swabi-1, the total registered votes are 122,626.

The men voters are 71,160 and the number of women voters is 51,466. Earlier the number of the votes in this constituency in the last general elections was 96257.

PK-32, Swabi-II is the constituency where local industrialists and key politicians have been facing each other in elections. They are again bracing for a crucial contest.The registered voters here total 110,658, including 62,127 men and 48,531 women. The number of voters in 2008 elections was 91,619.

In PK-33, Swabi-III has been considered a very strong constituency of ANP because the seat has regularly been won by its candidates.

The registered voters here are 112,585, including 64,504 men and 48,081 women. In the previous elections, 96,362 voters were registered in the constituency.

In PK-34, Swabi-IV is the constituency, where independent candidates have often emerged successful. The total registered voters here are 118,900.

Like other areas, the number of men voters is higher than that of women. Men voters total 69,724 and women electorates 49,176. The number of total votes in the constituency was 91,863 in the 2008 elections.

In the previous two elections, a new candidate had won the PK-35, Swabi-V seat. Total registered votes here are 134,054, including 76,731 men and 57,323 women. In the 2008 elections, voters totaled 91,863.

In PK-36, Swabi-VI, candidates from the Gadoon mountainous region won elections two to three times consecutively.

At present, the total number of voters here are 107,095, including 61,848 men and 45,252 women.

In the previous elections, voters totaled 92,932.

The current scenario suggests a tough competition on May 11 in the district and an uneven ground for ANP, which won one national and four provincial assembly seats here in the 2008 elections.