SWABI: Awami National Party’s acting central president Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Monday said if Pakhtuns desired to become economically strong they should vote for ANP candidates in the Thursday’s elections.

Speaking at the last campaign rally in Shewa area here, Mr Hoti tactfully used the Pakhtun card in his address to lure people.

It was learnt that ANP candidate Sikandar Irfan from PK-51 and Zahid Khan from PK-53 had made special request to Mr Hoti to address workers in last-ditch efforts to enlist the voters’ support to help revive the party’s past glory in the district.

Mr Hoti said ANP would protect the rights of Pakhtuns after coming to power, asking them to make full use of the time before Feb 8 to convince the people to vote for ANP hopefuls.

He said Pakhtuns had suffered during the two terms of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in the province, whose leaders, including the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, had made empty slogans and misled the masses.

He said the ANP government would push for a fresh resource distribution formula under the National Finance Commission Award to meet the emerging challenges of the federating units. He underscored that KP should get enhanced share in NFC Award to allocate sufficient financial resources for the newly-merged districts. He said there was dire need to have a strong government in the province.

The former chief minister said the province was pushed into severe financial crisis during the PTI rule. “A competent team is needed to get KP out of these difficulties,” he added.

He said if ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan’s health had permitted, he would have been in the middle of the party leaders and workers here.

Mr Hoti said: “We will conduct a thorough investigation into the loans obtained from various financial institutions during the PTI rule.”

“Every drop of Pakhtuns’ blood will be counted by ANP leadership,” he said.

He alleged that state machinery was used to suppress ANP during the PTI government in the province.

To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2024