Mardan - The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and opposition parties’ alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDA) has accelerated their preparations for the by-election to be held on 25th September.
The constituency was formerly known as NA-10 Mardan-II from 1977 to 2018. The name changed to NA-22 Mardan-III after the delimitation in 2018. In the 1977 election candidate of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) Maulana Habib Gul succeeded on this seat, in 1985 independent candidate Haji Nadir Shah succeed on this seat, in the 1988 election JUI (DG) candidate Maulana Shahid Ahmed succeeded, in 1990 independent candidate Aslam Khattak won this seat, in 1993 election Muttahida Deeni Mahaz (MDM) candidate Maulana Shahid Ahmed won this seat, in 1997 election Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Shams-ur-Rehman Qasim won this seat, in the 2002 and 2008 election MMA candidate Maulana Mohammad Qasim won this seat and in 2013 an 2018 election PTI candidate Ali Mohammad Khan won this seat.
However, five candidates including ex-prime minister Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, PDM candidate Maulana Qasim, JI Abdul Wasay and independent candidate Mohammad Sarwar are contesting the election for this seat. PTI has organized 22 teams for the election campaign of ex-prime minister Imran Khan.
According to a notification issued by Secretary General, Asad Umar, Senators Zeeshan Khanzada, Faisal Saleem, provincial minister Mohammad Atif Khan, Shahram Khan Taraki, Shakeel Khan, MNAs Mujahid Khan, Ali Mohammad Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Syed Mehboob Shah, MPAs Tufail Anjum, Iftikhar Ali Mashwani, Zahir Shah Toru, Abdus Salam Afridi, Malik Shaukat, Ameer Farzand Khan, Sajida Hanif, Shaheen Saifullah, Hamayun Khan, Pir Musavir Shah and former candidate Adil Nawaz are included in the election campaign team.
The opposition party’s alliance PDM has started preparation for the by-election. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) aren’t included in the PDM alliance, however, both parties have started a campaign for the PDM candidate Maulana Qasim. The opposition parties have started joint corner meetings for their candidate in the NA-22. Opposition parties have started motivating their workers to use their votes in favour of the PDM candidate. However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf does not seem to be active in this way. Independent observers say that a tough contest is expected between former Prime Minister Imran Khan and PDM candidate Maulana Qasim in the upcoming by-election on NA-22.