Kinship and emergence of political leaders in Pakhtun society: A comparison of ANP and JUI-F in electoral politics in Charsadda, Pakistan

The purpose of this paper is to describe kinship system and its relationship with the emergence of political leaders in district Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). This study elaborates the role of kinship in the emergence of leaders at micro levels i.e., Village Council, Union Council, Tehsil Council and District Council. The study analyses the impact of kinship in the electoral politics of Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F). The ANP leaders and followers are mostly the local inhabitants of Charsadda having large number of kin members. While on the other hand, the JUI-F leaders and followers are mostly immigrants of the other districts of KP having limited number of kin members in tehsil Charsadda. However, at micro level both the parties’ leaders and their family members attempt to make fusion against the distant relatives in order to win the election. This paper describes that how the number of kin members directly affects the victory and defeat of ANP and JUI-F? This study argues that kinship and neighbourhood have significant impact in the emergence of leaders at micro level. Qualitative research method was used and the tools for data collection were participant observation, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.