RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) workers from two constituencies, NA-52 and NA-53 in the Rawalpindi District are opposing the decision of their party chairman, Imran Khan, of inviting former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the party.

Imran Khan had invited Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to join his party before the general elections on Feb 11 during an interview with reporters at his residence in Bani Gala after the former interior minister’s press conference in Taxila in which he said he will not work under the leadership of Maryam Nawaz or Hamza Shahbaz.

However, PTI workers from NA-52 and NA-53 decided to go to Bani Gala and convince their party chairman to withdraw his invitation.

Traditionally, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has contested the election from NA-52, the area around Rawalpindi city consisting mostly of rural areas, and NA-53, Taxila.

However, in the 2013 elections, Chaudhry Nisar was elected from NA-52 with 132,905 votes while PTI’s retired Lt Col Ajmal Shabir Raja secured 69,539 votes.

Local leaders plan to meet PTI chief and hold protests if the invitation is not withdrawn

However, he lost in his hometown seat in Taxila to PTI’s Ghulam Sarwar Khan who managed to secure 110,593 votes against Chaudhry Nisar’s 102,430.

After their leader extended the invitation, PTI workers held meetings in Rawalpindi in order to register their complaint with the party leader, arguing that the former interior minister played a role in registering cases against party workers and leaders during the sit-in in front of parliament in 2014 and police action against workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 2016 dharna regarding the Panama leaks issue.

“Instead of taking action against our opponent, who used baton charge and registered cases against poor workers, the party chief has invited him in the party as he is facing problems in PML-N,” said Waheed Raja, a PTI worker from the Cantt areas.

He said the party should not invite people like Chaudhry Nisar if it wants to bring a change in the country.

“The party chief should learn his lesson from the wrong decision of giving a ticket to Ali Tareen in Lodharan while introducing inheritance politics,” he said.

A party worker from Taxila, Mohammad Amjad said the party should take decisions after taking workers in confidence.

“What is the difference between the PTI and the dictatorship of the Sharif family in PML-N and Zardari in PPP,” he asked.

Party leaders from the two constituencies say they feel cheated by the party leadership near the general elections.

“We were asked to work for the general elections and we gave good results and worked in the sit-in outside parliament in 2014 and 2016 and other public meetings. And suddenly, Chaudhry Nisar was asked to join the party, which will also support him if he contests the elections as an independent candidate,” a senior leader of Chaudhry Nisar’s constituency told Dawn.

He said local leaders have borne the expenses of public meetings and addressed problems of workers and supporters in their areas. He said party workers will meet Imran Khan next week in this regard. Local leaders plan to stage a sit-in if the party leader does not take out time to meet them, he added.

When asked, PTI MNA Ghulam Sarwar said he has always contested elections against Chaudhry Nisar and that the people of Taxila had rejected the former interior minister during the last general elections due to his anti-poor policies.

He said the PTI had defeated the sitting interior minister in the local government elections in his hometown due to his efforts and without any government support.

“Local PTI workers and supporters are against the party decisions and they came to me as well. I asked them to wait and that we will defeat Chaudhry Nisar in the next general elections,” he said.

When contacted, PTI candidate for NA-52, retired Lt Col Ajmal Shabir said the party should think twice before making statements which can hurt the sentiments of party workers.

“Workers who faced fake cases and were sent to jail by the former interior minister in 2014 and 2016 are planning a protest,” he said, adding that workers had come to him with the complaint but he had told them he was helpless in the matter as decisions in the PTI are now made like those in PML-N, without consultation with workers.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2018