PML-N Party Position in Hazara and PTI tsunami

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has dominated Hazara division always and majority of national and provincial assembly seats of Hazara division have been won by PML-N with landslide margins. Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan who is currently an MNA and previously served as Chief Minister of NWFP (now KPK) and as minister for railways as well, belongs to district Abbottabad. Sardar Mehtab has always won election from NA-17 except for 2002 elections in which he didn't contest. Pir Sabir Shah who hails from Haripur Hazara is another prominent PML-N leader who has been winning with heavy mandate from Haripur on provincial assembly seat. Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Barrister Javed Abbasi, Anayat Ur Rehman Jadoon and captain Safdar are other key leaders of PML-N in Hazara.

Despite all these facts and figures of past, now PML-N seems to be in a losing state in Hazara division due to multiple factors. PML-N got a big dent in Hazara division on the issue of renaming of NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwah. On this issue, public reacted very strongly against PML-N and there is a widespread hate against PML-N in Hazara due to this issue. A wave of anti-PML-N forces erupted just on this renaming issue and a large number of political opponents of PML-N joined hands for Soba Hazara cause. However, due to some misunderstanding between Baba Haider Zaman and other Soba Hazara leaders, they couldn't work together for long. Now, after a widespread tsunami of PTI in all parts of country, waves have reached in Hazara division as well where a large number of political heavyweights have already joined PTI which include a rival and a real competitor of Sardar Mehtab--Dr Azhar Khan Jadoon, ex-deputy speaker national assembly Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, ex-provincial minister Sardar Muhammad Idress, Ali Asghar Khan, Nisar Safdar Khan, ex minister and senator Azam Khan Swati, a key political leader of Mansehra Zargul Khan, Ex-district Nazim of Haripur Raja Amir Zaman, Yousuf Ayub Khan and dozens of other local leaders. PTI held a historic Jalsa in Abbottabad on 8th April which is considered as biggest political rally in the history of Hazara division. More than 100 thousand people gathered in this jalsa.

After such a massive rally of PTI in Abbottabad and joining of a large number of key political leaders of Hazara, now situation seems tense for PML-N and it seems that now the monarchy of PML-N in Hazara division is about to persih.