PESHAWAR - Exactly two months ago Begum Nasim Wali Khan re-emerged on political horizon by formally announcing her own faction of Awami National Party with the name ANP-Wali, clearly challenging the incumbent leadership of the ANP - the party that she had led from the front for 27 years.
Begum Nasim Wali has, however, made no visible dent so far to the ANP. Currently she is too much busy in reorganising her party that, according to her, is the party of Bacha Khan and Wali Khan. By the end of the current month, the reorganisation process of the party will be completed.
In most of her speeches, she accuses ANP's Asfandyar Wali Khan and others of following flawed policies that, according to her, caused huge loss to Pakhtuns as a nation. The 78-year-old lady says she has no option other than to rejoin practical politics after seeing this situation.
She had decided to return to politics due to heartrending election defeat of ANP in the province in May 2013 polls. In her utterance, Naseem, daughter-in-law of Khudai Khidmatgaar Tehreek chief Bacha Khan, had said she restarted political activities by engaging disgruntled ANP workers to strengthen the party.
Naseem had been out of political scene and spent a quiet life for six years hoping that Asfandyar would strengthen the ANP but instead ANP suffered setback in the election due to party's flawed policies and changes in ANP manifesto.
A political observer said that paradigm of present day politics has changed at all. Thus, it will be hard enough for Begum Nasim to revive her party and make trouble for the ANP that ruled the province for five years in near past. Moreover, she is too old to provide dynamic leadership to her party.
Despite the fact that ANP-Wali did not attract people and even failed to bring ANP's workers and leaders to its fold, the people attended its public meetings in large numbers and some political parties, even the ruling PTI, has wished to have electoral alliance with it in the upcoming local bodies polls, the analyst added. Begum Nasim in her speeches severely criticises the ANP but she misses her approach to the present day issues, the analyst was of the view.
Another political pundit said that splinter groups were not a new thing for the ANP. However, this time there is one difference, as all such groups in the past emerged from outside but now the ANP is being challenged within Wali Bagh. Thus, workers and well wishers are following wait-and-see policy.
If politics of ANP-Wali focuses on defaming rivals only and nothing else, the people will think twice before joining it. This new party may not dent ANP to a large extent because since its inception it has not come with a clear agenda on issues Pakhtun as a nation have been facing, he explained. This new party has so far been joined by a few prominent leaders and workers who had either formally said goodbye to practical politics or had been expelled from the ANP in the past.