ISLAMABAD - Addressing a corner meeting in a rural area of the federal capital, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate for NA-54 Anjum Aqeel Khan jeers at his opponent and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Asad Umar, for being a ‘non-local’.

“My opponent being an outsider even doesn’t know exactly about the real issues of this constituency. He during his last tenure as a member of the National Assembly never raised issues of the capital on the floor of the House. I am surprised why people voted for him in the last election,” Aqeel tells the voters.

“It is an embarrassment for the residents of the capital if they will vote for an outsider this time around,” he says and adds that they have already ruined their last five years.

The NA-54 is one of the three National Assembly constituencies of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Others two are NA-53 and NA-52. All three have been carved out from the old two constituencies of Islamabad, NA-48 and NA-49 as a result of the fresh delimitation of constituencies this year. The NA-54 constituency now consists of both urban and rural areas of Islamabad and has 2,18,795 registered voters.

After ending the corner meeting and sitting in his white luxury land cruiser, Aqeel says that “Asad Umar did not visit this constituency, especially rural areas during the last five years and this lapse on his part is giving a benefit to him during the campaign”.  He says that water and housing are the two biggest issues of the federal capital besides basic health facilities. He admits that the last PML-N government neither developed any new sector nor introduced any major water scheme for the capital.

“Actually, the people sitting at the helm of the affairs in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) avoid to launch mega projects because they later have to face the lengthy investigations of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) — the two anti-corruption watchdogs,” he says.

“Before the expiry of our term, we have got changes in the CDA laws approved from the cabinet to launch new sectors. We have a plan to bring water from Ghazi Brotha Dam for the residents of Islamabad if this time we came to power,” he says.

Aqeel then stops shortly at his main election office adjacent to high rise towers built by his own real estate company and responds to the problems of some of the people of his constituency.

In the urban areas of NA-54, the PTI has an edge because of its growing popularity and that is the reason that Aqeel is focusing his campaign on the rural areas of his constituency. He is a local of the area and has the advantage of having the vote bank of his own birdari (caste) in NA-54.

The PTI won the last two elections from almost from the constituency that was earlier NA-48. PTI’s Makhdoom Javed Hashmi won the 2013 elections by defeating Aqeel and after he vacated the seat because of his victory on more than one NA seats, PTI fielded Asad Umar in the by-polls, who won the election against PML-N’s candidate Chaudhry Ashraf Gujjar. Ashraf has now joined the PTI and is supporting Umar.

Asad Umar, a Karachiite, before entering a political gathering in the suburbs of Islamabad denies the allegations leveled by his major opponents and says that “he is now the permanent resident of Islamabad”. “I was the most vocal voice of the residents of Islamabad, be it the National Assembly, the standing committees or at the local government level,” he says. He says that he was the mover of a number of bills, call-attention notices and resolutions addressing the issues of residents.

“The biggest issues of the capital are water, housing, environment, quota in jobs for the youth of capital, and better transport service,” he says. He adds that “he remained present in his constituency and led two major protests against the shortage of water in the capital”. “We have a plan to establish healthcare units in every union council of Islamabad despite a complete programme on all issues of the capital,” he concludes.

Mian Muhammad Aslam is another prominent candidate in NA-54 who is contesting from the platform of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). He had secured a victory from old NA-48 in the 2002 general election.

The NA-53 is the neighbouring constituency of NA-54 that has been mostly carved out of old NA-49. Two bigwigs PTI chief Imran Khan and PML-N stalwart, as well as former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, are contesting from this constituency. The constituency has mostly urban and semi-urban population with a total 3,12143 registered voters.

The PTI has two major advantages in this constituency; first is the star appeal of Khan and the second is that many posh and middle-class income sectors of Islamabad fall in this constituency where the PTI is gaining popularity. Khan is not giving much time to this constituency because of his country-wide election campaign and his close aide and British national Zulfi Bukhari is leading his campaign. The way Bukhari is leading the campaign, it is believed within the PTI circle that he will be a major aspirant of the PTI ticket as Khan would vacate this seat if he secured victory from this constituency. Khan is contesting election from five NA constituencies.

On the other hand, Khaqan Abbasi has been launched by his party to counter the PTI chief and he is also contesting from his home constituency, NA-57.

Bhara Kahu, a major semi-urban area of capital also falls in NA-53 that has remained a stronghold of the PML-N in the past. In Bhara Kahu, mostly middle class and low-income groups reside and are mainly migrants from hilly areas.

Political observers believe that votes of the area would be divided among the PTI, the PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Syed Sibt-ul Haider Bukhari, who is the brother of PPP stalwart and former chairman Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari and the family is also a resident of Bhara Kahu.

The third constituency of Islamabad, NA-52, consists of mostly rural areas and some housing societies including Bahria Town, Media Town and the Defence Housing Authority etc which are located on the main highway leading towards GT Road. The major three contenders of this constituency are connected with the property business in one way or the other. This is the newly carved out constituency mostly out of old NA-49 and has 2, 34508 registered voters.

Raja Khurram Nawaz, the PTI candidate for NA-52, says that only three union councils of the constituency were urban out of total 16 UCs falling in the constituency. He himself was the chairman union council on a PTI ticket until he resigned to contest the national elections. The NA election is his debut while his opponent Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, of the PML-N, has remained a member of the National Assembly twice from old NA-49 and also served as Federal Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division in the last PML-N government.

While sitting in his central election office in an under-construction plaza on Lethrar Road, Khurram Nawaz says, “the PML-N in its last tenure failed to bring any mega water supply project to the area. Schools and colleges and health facilities in this constituency are in a shambles,” he says.

“Most new localities of the area are without graveyards. People talk about the miserable conditions of south Punjab but this constituency is worse than ant area of Punjab,” he says accusing the PML-N of the deplorable condition of the area.

He says that “there is a severe shortage of water in the area, there is no clean drinking water available in schools and the road infrastructure of the constituency is in bad condition”.

Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry sits in his political office at his farmhouse and first inquiries from some PML-N activists about his on-going election campaign. Then he holds a meeting with a group of PML-N women workers and explains the priorities of the party’s election campaign. In a brief chit-chat, he claims that “the PML-N workers are now charged and mobilized with the homecoming of convicted party leader and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif”.

Chaudhry, who also has the background of real estate businesses, responding to the allegation of his PTI opponent, says, “He as the federal minister gotten 200 schools upgraded in the federal capital”. He admits that the PML-N failed to bring any mega water supply project during the last five years but adds that “he had gotten approved a number of small water supply schemes in his constituency”. I have gotten approved natural gas connections for 155 villages. “Our PML-N government has released funds amounting to Rs4 billion to the newly established Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) to work in the areas of water supply and sanitation but the IMC will take some time to stand on its feet,” he says. He says that the PML-N in this constituency has fought against land grabbers and initiated moderate politics based on the values of self-respect of the general public.

“Earlier, there was oppression in this constituency. I can say that our development work and the nature of politics will induce the people to vote,” he concludes.

PPP candidate Afzal Khokhar is another prominent contender in the NA-52 constituency, and who also has the background of property business. Khokhar family is very old in politics in this area and has close connections with some influential political groups.

In short, when it comes to the three constituencies of the federal capital, it apparently looks that the real battle is between the PTI and the PML-N and the real issues spin around water, housing, education, health, encroachments and transport.