RAWALPINDI: In one of the few visits to the garrison city since his election as MNA from here in 2013, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan will try to woo the residents to join his party on Sunday (today).

During his visit as a part of the countrywide membership campaign of the PTI, Mr Khan will go from one membership camp to another in the city and cantonment areas which are mostly represented in the national and provincial assemblies by the ruling PML-N.

The PTI strongly feels the visit will boost its prospects in the upcoming general elections.

But the workers of the party insist it won’t make any difference as the PTI has lost popularity among the local people due to the indifferent attitude of its MPAs and local leaders.

“Mr Khan will visit the membership camps established in different places and speak to party workers and supporters with the basic objective of boosting the morale of the workers,” PTI city president and MPA Ijaz Khan Jazi told Dawn.

Workers say Imran Khan’s visit will not make any difference as PTI has lost popularity among voters

The camps have been established at Pirwadhai, Chur Chowk, GPO Saddar, Flashman Hotel, Jhanda Chichi, Committee Chowk, Naz Cinema, Chandni Chowk, Sadiqabad and Commercial Market.

The MPA said the district administration had been informed about the security arrangements for the PTI chairman.

He said the party’s local chapter had also made arrangements for the security of the chairman and a special squad of workers had been formed in this regard.

“The ruling party will face a tough time in the elections as after the chairman’s visit to the city all differences within the local chapter of the PTI will end,” he said.

He claimed that the provincial government was patronising the ruling party and development works initiated by civic bodies in various areas were aimed at helping the ruling party win the upcoming elections.

On the other hand, the PTI workers expressed their resentment over the launch of the membership drive when the general elections were approaching.

They said during elections the party leaders visited the city and ignored the workers for five years.

“In the last four-and-a-half years, Imran Khan, who was elected from NA-56, never visited his constituency except for three times when he came for public meetings and seeking support of the citizens,” said Tanveer Malik, a party worker from Sadiqabad.

He added: “Imran Khan did not nominate any person or formed a committee for his constituency to contact the residents who had supported him in the elections. The workers are of the view that like other traditional politicians Imran Khan will come to the constituency near the general elections.”

“Banigala, the residence of Imran Khan, is a few miles away from NA-56 but he never visited his constituency during the last five years. Whenever he came, he sought help of the party workers and supporters for his new campaigns such as the 2014 sit-in and public meetings,” said Mohammad Irfan, another party worker who lives in Arya Mohallah.

He said even three MPAs of the PTI - Arif Abbasi, Asif Mehmood and Rashid Hafeez - did not contact workers after the 2014 sit-in outside Parliament House in Islamabad. “The lawmakers even did not establish their public secretariats to listen to the problems of the local residents,” he said.

However, he added, the party’s Rawalpindi chapter president Ijaz Khan Jazi had set up his public secretariat at College Road and was available to the workers. He said the party failed to launch any development project in the city from the funds of MNAs.

Malik Tariq, a PTI worker from Dheri Hasanabad, said the local party MPA never visited the area to meet party workers.

“We give vote to newcomers to the PTI but faced a bad experience. We will not repeat this mistake,” he said.

When contacted, PTI former district president Zahid Kazmi admitted that the party had failed to unite the workers in the garrison city as the PTI regional president Amir Kiani was interested in the matters of Islamabad only.

He said the party’s office-bearers also failed to improve the image of the PTI in the city and quarreled over the distribution of tickets for the local government elections.

About development works, he said it was not the duty of an MNA to supervise construction of drains and streets. “As a national politician, Imran Khan has been raising a voice for the oppressed segments of society,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2018