MARDAN: Awami National Party, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Tuesday hit out at Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan for ‘deceiving Pakhtuns’ in the province in the name of change and said the PTI-led provincial government had done nothing for them during the last one and a half years.

He was addressing a public meeting at Khairabad area of Rustam city here.

On the occasion, Pakistan People’s Party leader Rahat Ali Khan along with his relatives and friends announced the joining of ANP.

Hoti told participants that Imran Khan had forgotten all promises he had made to Pakhtuns during the 2013 election campaign.

He said when the ANP ruled the province, development projects were underway everywhere only because the power was in the hands of Pashtun leadership.

The ANP leader said unfortunately, incumbent Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was toothless and that the provincial government’s affairs were managed by the PTI’s Punjabi leadership from Bani Gala locality in Islamabad, where Imran Khan lived.

“Imran Khan has focused all his energies on grabbing power in Punjab and thus, ignoring the problems and issues of Pakhtuns,” he said.

Hoti said Pakhtuns blindly trusted Imran Khan and voted his party to power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the time had proved them wrong.

He said the province had a very high incidence of extortion and kidnapping and faced excessive power loadshedding and unchecked inflation.

The ANP leader said Imran Khan complained about rigging in four National Assembly constituencies but the ANP accepted the election results for the sake of democracy though its candidates were defeated under a scheme.

He said ANP lost hundreds of key leaders and workers to terrorism but never bowed to terrorists and rather faced the situation bravely.

Hoti urged Pakhtuns to join ANP, which, he said, was the only political party capable of steering Pakhtuns of the current crises.

Published in Dawn, November 19th , 2014