The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is known for its “change policy” regarding the formation of governments as was visible in 2002, 2008 and 2013 respectively.  Now the question arises whether PTI will be able to hold onto the power in the coming elections or it will be wiped out like MMA and ANP. Let’s discuss this daunting question with respect to different areas and angles.

The Zone one comprises of tribal areas and regions attached to Peshawar, Bannu, Kohat, and D.I Khan. This region has a huge religious vote bank and hence the right-wing parties stand better chances to be the winner. However, the Pashtoon nationalist parties also play an important role in the politics of the region and have historically been a bastion of their activities. Currently, out of 11 MNAs, PML(N) has three MNAS, PTI and JUI (F) have one while the rest are independent candidates.  In the coming elections of 2018, a tough contest is expected between PTI, JUI(F), PML(N) and Nationalists with a huge factor of independents too.

Zone 2 consists of  Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda, and Swabi. During the previous elections, PTI clean swept the elections in Peshawar and that win was affirmed by the recent win of PTI from the NA-04 constituency. The Peshawar city seems to be in complete control of PTI and the next election results are highly expected to be Pro-PTI. However, there is a huge vote bank of JUI, ANP, and PMLN and any election alliance can deter PTI chance to sweep the district.

Mardan is the hometown of the former Chief Minister and hence Awami National Party maintains a huge vote bank here. ANP was challenged and defeated by PTI in the previous election.  In the coming elections, a tough contest is expected between ANP and PTI. This district also has a considerable religious vote bank and mostly is in favor of JUI(F).

Charsadda is the home constituency of Qaumi Watan Party chief, Aftab Sherpao. He has got elected from Charsadda numerous times and the reversal of this trend is very difficult because of the support that he enjoys in the district but this time around he will face tough competition from PTI, ANP, and JUI.

Swabi is fiercely contested between PTI and ANP. Currently, both of the MNAs are in the fold of PTI but ANP managed to form the government on the district level. Next elections are unpredictable but the environment indicates that PTI and ANP will the potential candidates to win from the district.

This zone mostly comprises of the Malakand division and this area is hotly contested between PMLN, JI, and PTI. Head of Jamat-e-Islami, Siraj Ul Haq, belongs to this region whereas the president of the provincial chapter of PLMN, Ameer Muqam, also lives in this region. PTI in the last elections made substantial inroads in the bastion of PLMN and even defeated the current provincial president of PMLN. In the coming elections, the competition is mainly between the above mentioned these three parties.

This zone which comprises of Bannu, Kohat, Karak, Laki Marwat, and D.I Khan. Zone 4 is considered a stronghold of JUI(F) because the head of JUI, Maulana Fazlu Rehman, belongs to this region. Another big wig of JUI, Akram Khan Durrani, is also a resident of this area. However, in the next elections, the region was under the huge influence of Imran Khan and PTI managed to defeat rivals including JUI(F) convincingly. In the coming elections, a tough contest is expected between the two rival political parties.

This zone consists of Haripur, Abbottabad and Mansehra districts. The Hazara belt has traditionally been a stronghold of PMLN but in last elections, PTI was able to make inroads in the region. A tough contest can be predicted in the next elections between PTI and PLMN.