GUJRAT, Feb 3: Local leaders of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf believe their central leadership should announce its candidates for the general elections, as early as possible because the process had already been delayed owing to the intra-party polls, especially when the rival parties have opened their cards in this regard as far as NA-105 was concerned.

Their concern seems to be justified in the backdrop of announcements made by Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and water and power minister Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar of the People’s Party to contest the election from NA-105, comprising Gujrat city, Kunjah and its adjoining rural areas.

Meanwhile the PTI leadership has extended the date for holding intra-party polls in the district up to Feb 9 from the earlier Feb 6.

While the PTI was busy in party polls, its rivals PML-Q and the PPP were trying to woo back their estranged or angry workers, besides chalking out election strategies by convening meetings.

Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, who has announced to go for NA-105 a few days ago, has been in the town since Friday evening. It is his second visit in a week and according to sources he will be here till Sunday evening.

On Saturday, Mr Elahi presided over a meeting of the local bodies representatives and workers of his party belonging to another six union councils of the city.

Similarly, PPP’s Ahmed Mukhtar spent the entire day in the town on Friday and headed a meeting of his supporters and party workers at his political office here in connection with his election campaign.

According to a PTI worker, another cause of concern for the party is Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz attempts to woo some of the potential PTI candidates in NA-105 such as Chaudhry Mubashar Hussain, a former MNA and Chaudhry Saleem Sarwar Jaura.

Failing to find any suitable candidate, the PML-N leadership has been offering tickets for NA-105 and PP-111 to ‘electables’ from the PTI and the PPP, if they showed willingness to switch their loyalties. According to a PPP source, Mr Mukhtar had also been wooing Jaura, by offering him PPP ticket from PP-111.

Saqib Virk, Insaaf Students Federation district president, said although the intra-party elections were essential for strengthening the party, further delay in finalising candidates might prove damaging for the party. The party should start the process of awarding tickets for national as well as provincial assembly seats as soon as possible, he added.

He said though the PTI feels strong in NA-105 as it mostly comprised urban areas, early electioneering by its rival parties was definitely influencing voters and might affect the parties that were still indecisive with regard to their candidates.

Sources in the PTI said out of total 117 union councils of Gujrat district, the party office-bearers had been elected unopposed in around 94 UCs, whereas elections in the remaining 23 were scheduled to be held on February 9.

The number of the registered PTI voters in the district, according to party claims, is around 104,000 and most of them belonged to the 15 city UCs out of which 10 were yet to elect office-bearers. In each UC, 13 party office-bearers are to be elected.

Mr Jaura lamented that intra-party elections had been a big chance for the PTI workers to rehearse for the general elections by getting involved in canvassing but it had been spoiled in most of the areas in the district where party officials got elected unopposed.

He claimed that he resisted such trend in the city where party polls would be held in 10 out of 15 UCs. He was also of the view that an inordinate delay in finalising the candidates had been making the situation complex for the PTI.

Iftikhar Ahmed Samman, another PTI leader, said his party should go for naming of the candidates immediately after completing the intra-party polls, as the process had already been delayed a lot.