KARAK, Feb 25: The local chapter of ruling Awami National Party (ANP) suffered a blow as Provincial Minister for Prisons Mian Nisar Gul quit the ministry and basic membership of the party, according to sources.

They said that it would be difficult for ANP to find a suitable candidate in the district after quitting of the minister to counter its expelled leader Farid Toofan in the upcoming general elections.

Circles close to Mian Nisar Gul said that he would join Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl if it agreed to allot him ticket for the upcoming polls. Otherwise, he would contest the election as an independent candidate from PK-40 constituency in Karak, they said.

Political analysts said that ANP failed to strengthen its vote bank in the district despite the fact that it set up Khushal Khan Khattak University in Karak and increased royalty on oil and gas. They claimed that Mr Gul was main cause of it as being a minister of ANP he never tried to strengthen the party at district level.

ANP district information secretary Sadiqullah Khattak, when contacted, confirmed resignation of Mr Gul but he termed his decision a political suicide. He said that ANP was a political force and resignation of an individual couldn’t damage it in the district.

His resignation proved that he was not a reliable politician, said Mr Khattak, adding that no party would accommodate him owing to his week political stand.

JIRGA: The residents of Banda Daud Shah tehsil have decided to field a consensus candidate in the upcoming elections in PK-40 constituency.

The decision was taken in a jirga held at Terri Chowk here on Monday with Haroon Khan, a political activist, in the chair. The social workers and political activists from all the five union councils of the tehsil attended the jirga.

Addressing the jirga, its convener Khalid Khan said that all issues of the tehsil remained unresolved owing to absence of a true representative of the area in the provincial assembly.

The jirga decided that a committee would be set up in each union council to create awareness among people about importance of vote. The local leaders of all political parties would be invited to next meeting of the jirga, to be held on Sunday next, to nominate a consensus candidate for polls.

The participants of the jirga decided that all of them would support the consensus candidate irrespective of their political affiliation.