Party’s Political Strategies and Electoral Performance: (A Critical Study of ANP in KP)

Abstract

This paper illustrates a comparative analysis of ANP to identify all those factors and determinants due to which ANP faced failure in not only national but in provincial elections as well in 2013 and onwards. It is also worth mentioning that KP is known for ever changing voting behavior in each election but this narration has become false by PTI in 2013 and 2018 general elections for continuation of last three executive terms. The depressed socio-economic conditions and politics of kinship and ethno-national feelings inversely impacted the electoral politics of ANP and so voters opted for other options in elections of 2013 and 2018 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa falsifying the truth about the dynamic feature of the voting behavior of the province as ANP and struggle for Pakhtun rights. However, ANP was twice ousted from provincial legislature and PTI with the slogan of ‘change’ and ‘Naya Pakistan’ became victorious. Warm relations with Afghanistan and India and notion of peaceful co-existence on the one hand and poor role of electronic and social media on the hand badly impacted the regional politics of ANP in Khybar Pakhtunkhwa. ANP not only suffered a lot in elections but has lost several lives for the cause of Pakhtun nation. In short it can be justified that though voting behavior has remained static for last three general elections in favor of PTI but positive and progressive role of ANP for the province can also be not nullified.