Elections will be held on four national and eight provincial seats in the Khanewal district next month. Fierce contests are expected here among the traditional political families.

The total number of registered voters in this district is 19 lakh 42 thousand 633, of which ten lakh 43 thousand 272 are male and eight lakh 99 thousand 361 female voters.

Khanewal's first national constituency, NA-144 Kabirwala, as per the arrangement of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), has been a "battleground" of traditional rival groups for approximately the past 35 years.

The head of the Hiraj Group is Raza Hayat Hiraj, and the patron of the Syed Group is former Speaker Syed Fakhr Imam.

The candidates of both the groups here are still campaigning in an independent capacity.

In this constituency, Raza Hayat from the Hiraj group is the candidate for National Assembly. His brothers, Asghar Hayat and Akbar Hayat Hiraj, are candidates in the two provincial constituencies under him. Syed Abid Ali is a candidate for the National Assembly from Syed Group. Dr Khawar Shah and former provincial minister Hussain Jahanian Gardizi are hopefuls for the provincial seats from the Syed Group.

Farrukh Raza Tirmizi, a social activist who monitors local politics, says that in NA-144, Barrister Raza Hayat is a seasoned politician and Abid Imam, the son of the opponent Syed Fakhr Imam, is connected to the young voter.

Khanewal New Constituencies 2023

2018 National Assembly Constituency NA-150 Khanewal 1 is now NA-144 Khanewal 1
This constituency consists of Kabirwala Tehsil. It also includes the towns of Sarai Sidhu, Kakar Hatta. In the new constituency delimitation, the entire town of Abdul Hakeem Qanoon Goh (QH)  has been included except Hataranwala, Abdul Hakeem, Batianwala, Umidgarh, Gobindgarh and Jalla Pahor Patwar Circle of Kabirwala Tehsil. Meanwhile, Mubarakpur, Kot Bahadur, Kodewala, Chak 14, and Bariwala Patwar circles have been removed.

2018 National Assembly Constituency NA-151 Khanewal 2 is now NA-145 Khanewal 2
This constituency consists of the rural population of Khanewal city and Khanewal tehsil. Makhdoompur, Khanewal Kahna are also included in it. Under the new constituency delimitation, patwar circles of Tehsil Kabirwala, Mubarakpur, Kot Bahadur, Kodewala, Chak 14V and Bariwala patwar circles have been included in this constituency. Nanakpur Chak No 76 Das R and 91-A Das R Patwar Circle of Khanewal Tehsil have been removed. Most of the patwar circles of Khanewal, two QH and Abdul Hakeem QH, have also been removed from this constituency.

2018 National Assembly Constituency NA-152 Khanewal 3 is now NA-146 Khanewal 3
It is a constituency of Mian Channu Tehsil, including all the villages and the Mian Channu Municipal Committee population. Earlier, the town of Mian Channu tehsil was not included in this constituency, but under the new constituency delimitation, it has also been made a part of it.

2018 National Assembly Constituency NA-153 Khanewal 4 is now NA-147 Khanewal 4
This is a constituency of Jahanian Tehsil, which includes some towns and villages of Khanewal Tehsil. Under the new constituency delimitation, Khanewal Constituency and Nanakpur Patwar Circle have been included in this constituency, while Mumba Constituency of Mian Channu Tehsil has been excluded.

He says that the Syed Group has not yet declared separation from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and that this "quasi-affiliation" will play an essential role in the election. But if PTI's Shehbaz Sial or any such young leader gets a party ticket here, then the Syed group will suffer.

On the other hand, he says Syed Mukhtar Hussain, a vital member of the Hiraj group and former MPA, is himself a candidate, which will affect the Hiraj group. However, both groups have a strong vote bank, so it will be a tough fight between Hiraj and Abid Imam.

In NA-145, Muhammad Khan Daha from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Hamid Yar Hiraj Azad and Rana Abdul Rahman from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are candidates, while the affairs of PTI have not been decided yet.

Imtiaz Ali has known local politics for a long time. He says a big contest between Muhammad Khan Daha and Hamid Yar Hiraj is expected in the current situation. Both these hopefuls have been elected multiple times. If Hamid Yar becomes PTI's candidate, which is unlikely, he can give PML-N a tough time.

NA 146 covers most of Mian Channu Tehsil. Here, two big landlords and traditional rivals, Pir Aslam Bodla from PML-N and independent candidate Pir Zahoor Hussain Qureshi, face each other.

In 2002, Pir Aslam Bodla first defeated Pir Shujaat Qureshi, father of Pir Zahoor Hussain Qureshi, on a PPP ticket from Mian Channu. He became an MNA on the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) ticket for the second time. In 2018, Zahoor Hussain Qureshi defeated Aslam Bodla on a PTI ticket.

Both are strong candidates.

Most of Tehsil Jahanian falls in NA-147. Chaudhry Iftikhar Nazir of PML-N and Mian Naveed Jahanian of PTI are candidates here. Aleem Khan, central leader of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and Ayaz Niazi (IPP) have also submitted their nomination papers.

Iftikhar Nazir has a business background and has won the last three elections on the ticket of different political parties. This time, along with Iftikhar Nazir, his two brothers are candidates for PML-N on provincial seats.

Mian Naveed Jahanian was an MPA during the government of PML-Q and has many developmental works to his credit.

Majid Aslam, a local journalist, says that Jahanian city is home to many Arain and Jat communities, and the Maitla and Wahla communities dominate the villages.

Similarly, there are locals and migrants (from Jalandhar, Ferozepur) present in the villages.

He says that the Arain community and the new locals (immigrants) are supporters of PTI candidate Mian Naveed from their community. While the old local Maitla and Wahla communities are now standing with the IPP, their candidate is yet to be announced here.

"The Jat community is supporting its candidate, Iftikhar Nazir, but most votes seem to be going to the PTI due to popular support".

According to him, the final race for this seat is expected between Iftikhar Nazir and Mian Naveed Jahanian.

PP-205 is the first provincial constituency of this district, where Raza Hiraj's brother, Akbar Hayat Hiraj and Syed Fakhr Imam's cousin, Dr Khawar Shah, are likely to have intense competition.

Here, Mukhtar Hussain Shah's son, Murtaza Shah, is also one of the hopefuls who will influence the vote of both.

In PP-206, Hamid Yar Hiraj's brother, Ahmed Yar Hiraj, is an independent candidate. He won this seat last time as well. This time, he will face PML-N's Barrister Usama, the son of former MPA Chaudhary Fazlur Rehman, who belongs to the Rajput community.

Rana Obaid Afzal, an independent candidate from here, also belongs to the Rajput community, which is considered close to the Hiraj family. If he does not step down in favour of Usama Fazal, it can be a big loss to the PML-N candidate.

Last time, PTI's Syed Ali Abbas defeated PML-N's Amir Hayat Hiraj in PP-207. The main reason for this was the 20 thousand votes of independent candidate Parvez Akhtar Hussaini.

From here, Ali Abbas of PTI, Amir Hiraj of PML-N, and independent candidate Parvez Akhtar are present in the field.

PML-N leader Anwar Rath is also active in the constituency as an independent candidate who has the support of the Oudh community with 10,000 to 15,000 votes.

In the last election in PP-208, PML-N's Rana Babar Japani defeated PTI's Jamshed Shaukat Arain. Another strong personality of the Arain community is Shahid Basheer of the PPP.

In this constituency, the Arain community had around 30 thousand votes, but in the new constituency, most of their votes have gone to PP-207.

Social activist Ashar Nauman says there are differences between the national and provincial candidates of the PML-N here because Rana Babar wants to contest the election on the national seat. If this matter doesn’t get resolved, PML-N can suffer.

In PP-209, Faisal Khan Niazi is a candidate from PTI, Ziaur Rehman from PML-N, and Ayaz Niazi is hopeful from IPP. In the last elections here, Faisal Niazi did not get a PTI ticket, and he won from PML-N.

According to journalist Majid Aslam, Faisal Khan is very popular in the Niazi area. Zia-ur-Rehman is the younger brother of the PML-N hopeful for NA, Iftikhar Nazir.

"The majority vote of the Niazi community will go with Faisal Niazi and some with Ayaz Niazi. Most of the leading people of other local communities also support Ayaz Niazi as he has built a good reputation in the constituency as a provincial adviser."

From PP-210 Jahanian, Khalid Javed Arain (PTI), Iftikhar Nazir's brother Haji Atta-ul-Rehman from PML-N and Mujtaba Maitla from IPP are expected. Former Tehsil Nazim and MPA Chaudhary Karam Dad Wahla have also submitted papers on this seat.

According to Majid Aslam, there will be a tough contest for this seat. However, Khalid Javed has the support of both the Arain and Jat communities. It is unclear who the candidates from the Wahla and Maitla communities will be.

In PP-211, the expected candidate of PPP is Masood Majeed Daha; the possible candidates of PTI could be Col (retd) Abid Mehmood or Imran Parvez Dhol.

The Kamboh community has a significant vote in this constituency, and Dr Shafiqur Rehman is running as an independent candidate. However, a large faction of the Kamboh community under the leadership of Saifur Rahman has joined the PML-N and is supporting Rana Salim.

PP-212 covers Kabirwala city and suburbs. Hussain Jahanian Gardizi and Asghar Hayat Hiraj are contesting each other for this seat. While here, Rubina Gardizi is also a candidate with the support of the Gardizi family. Rubina Gardizi is the daughter of Haider Shah Gardizi and has entered the election field for the first time. Her arrival may harm Hussain Jahanian.

There are also reports that Rubina Gardizi is in touch with both the PML-N and the PPP and is trying to get a ticket. However, Hussain Jahanian will try to nullify these effects with his development projects and PTI's vote in this constituency.

Farrukh Raza believes that due to tension with the establishment, the decision on the tickets of PTI candidates has not been made yet. Therefore, most of the candidates are participating in the elections in an independent capacity.

Although the tickets have not been announced yet, the PML-N candidates are now apparent from most of the constituencies. District Vice President PPP Syed Karar Haider says that out of 12 seats in this district, PPP candidates are participating in the contest for seven.

PTI City Senior Vice President Malik Ijaz claims that serious voters in Khanewal are fed up with the performance of traditional politicians and stand with PTI.

Christian community's objection to delimitation

Jacob Wazir, a former member of Khanewal District Council on the minority seat and leader of the Christian community, says that the large Christian population of Shanti Nagar here was cut off from PP-206 and NA-145 urban constituencies of Khanewal, on the request of a former minister to Tehsil Jahanian, and added to the constituencies of PP-209 and NA-147.

According to Jacob Wazir, he also protested in front of the Multan Press Club against the removal of the 7,500 votes of Shanti Nagar from the urban constituency of Khanewal, but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected his request.

The District Election Commission says that the area was visited at the request of Jacob Wazir and the ECP’s constituencies are correct.