Dera Ismail Khan Tehsil

Dera Ismail Khan
—  Tehsil  —
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
District	Dera Ismail Khan
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Number of towns	1
Number of Union Councils	21

Dera Ismail Khan Tehsil is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.^[1]

Administration

The tehsil is administratively subdivided into 21 Union Councils, four of which form the headquarters - Dera Ismail Khan.^[1]

History

During British rule Dera Ismail Khan was the chief tehsil of the old Dera Ismail Khan District. The population was 144,337 according to the 1901 census an increase of almost 11,000 since the 1891 census (133,809) - it was headquartered at the town of Dera Ismail Khan and contained 250 villages.^[2]

Politics

Dera Ismail Khan is represented in the National Assembly of Pakistan through two seats which are NA-24 (D I Khan) and NA-25 (D I Khan cum Tank). The incumbent on these seats are Faisal Karim Kundi of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from NA-24 and Maulana Atta ur Rehman of Jamiat Ullema Islam- Fazalur Rehman (JUI-F) from NA-25.

Traditionally Dera politics has been dominated by Jamiat Ullema Islam because of the charismatic and dynamic personality of Maulana Mufti Mahmood. After his death his son Fazlur Rehman became the Chairman of JUI-F.

The people of D I Khan feel let down by the two dominant parties PPP and JUI-F as they have not done any significant efforts to improve the quality of life, build the city infrastructure or create jobs. People want change in the status quo which has provided a room for new leadership to emerge under the banner of Pakistan Tehrike Insaf (PTI). PTI has quickly gained ground in the city as many notables including Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi, Khalid Awan, Humayon Khan Gandapur has joined the party. The youthwing of PTI in the leadership of Irfan Mallick has established district level wings to reach out to the voters. It is expected that in the next elections PTI will emerge as a leading party in the city.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Tehsils & Unions in the District of D.I. Khan - Government of Pakistan
2. ^ Dera Ismail Khān Tahsīl - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 11, p. 268.