PESHAWAR: Not a single politician hailing from Peshawar could become the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the last four decades, previous records show.
The last time this happened was almost 40 years ago when the late Arbab Jahangir Khan Khalil, who belonged to the KP, became the Chief Minister of the province which was then called North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Khalil held the coveted position from 7 April 1985 to May 1988 and holds the record of going undefeated in his 32-year political career from 1970 to 2002.
He was elected three times to the National Assembly and four times to the Provincial Assembly of the province and remained undefeated throughout his political career.
Peshawar could not get any representation in the federal cabinet in the last decade. The last time any lawmaker from Peshawar was given a seat in the federal cabinet was after the 2008 elections.
Several politicians from the provincial capital have remained provincial governors since the mid-1980s, but none of them could significantly change the development of their city.
During the upcoming polls on February 8, very few seasoned politicians are trying their luck for the KP Assembly from the 13 constituencies of Peshawar.
On the other hand, several seasoned political leaders from other districts are contesting the upcoming state assembly elections, eyeing the top spot.
In the last four decades, Mardan division has produced most of the Chief Ministers.
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao from Charsadda is the only politician in the last four decades to have twice remained the chief minister of the province then called NWFP.
Sherpao was a senior member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in those days, who later broke with it to form his splinter group. He remained the Chief Minister of the province from December 1988 to August 1990 and again from April 1994 to November 1996. He also served as Home Minister.
From August 1990 to July 1993, Mir Afzal Khan of Mardan remained the chief minister of the province.
Pir Sabir Shah, who was elected from Haripur, was the Chief Executive of the province from August 1993 to February 1994.
After the 1997 elections, Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, who was elected from Abbottabad, became the Chief Minister. He remained in office from February 1997 to 12 October 1999.
The province was ruled by a governor’s government from 1999 to 2002. In 2002, the six-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal formed an electoral alliance in the province and Akram Khan Durrani belonging to Bannu became the chief minister. He remained in office from 30 November 2002 to 11 October 2007.
When the Awami National Party (ANP) came to power after the 2008 elections, Ameer Haider Hoti from Mardan was elected as the provincial chief executive and remained in office from 31 March 2008 to 20 March 2013.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) swept the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa polls in 2013. Pervez Khattak from Nowshera was elected Chief Minister and remained in office from 31 May 2013 to 6 June 2018.
The PTI came to power again in the 2018 general elections, something unusual in KP as no party could win two consecutive polls in the province for many decades. However, in place of Khattak this time, PTI named Mahmood Khan from Swat, Chief Minister. He led the government in the KP from August 17, 2018 to January 2023, when he dissolved the KP Assembly before the regular term of office.
A caretaker government led by Chief Minister Azam Khan was installed in the province in January last year after the assemblies were dissolved. He remained CM until his death on 11 November 2023. On 12 November 2023, he was replaced by acting Chief Minister Arshad Hussain Shah.
