PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf dissidents from across the province on Sunday threatened to contest the upcoming general elections as independent candidates if the party leadership failed to revisit the decision of awarding poll tickets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The demand was made in a meeting held here on Sunday that was attended by the PTI dissidents from every district and tehsil of the province. Beside others, the meeting was attended by PTI district president in Kohat Aftab Alam, Saleem Khan from Karak, Iqbal Marwat and Saleem Nawaz Marwat from Lakki Marwat and Arbab Najibullah from Peshawar.

The participants of the meeting showed resentment over ignoring the longtime associates and diehard workers of the party and allotting poll tickets to the wealthy and paratroopers on the whims of a powerful lobby in the party’s provincial chapter.

Annoyed workers threaten to contest elections as independent candidates

Those aspiring candidates, who have been denied tickets, told Dawn that they and their supporters would either contest the upcoming general elections as independent candidates or they would launch campaign against the PTI candidates in the respective constituencies.

“We are going to form a bloc within the PTI to contest the upcoming elections from each constituency,” one of the participants of the meeting told Dawn. He said that during the meeting, it was decided that all the dissidents would file nomination papers immediately and accelerate the poll campaign.

He alleged that a strong lobby in the provincial chapter of PTI awarded tickets to its likeminded leaders and those, who recently joined the party. “Actually the lobby is making efforts to make their own chief minister of the province,” he added.

Talking to this scribe, several aspirants and local leaders urged PTI chairman Imran Khan to revisit the decision otherwise the upcoming elections there would be tough contest among the PTI candidates and its dissidents in the general elections.

The PTI would be at the receiving end if its dissidents campaigned against its candidates. The party might lose five to six seats only in Peshawar for the provincial assembly.

The PTI workers in Hayatabad last night blocked the Bab-i-Peshawar Flyover as a protest against awarding ticket to Taimur Jhagra. They chanted slogans against the PTI leadership for awarding ticket to a paratrooper and non-local.

A PTI district leader told Dawn that 32 members of the party had applied for the ticket for PK-74, but they were denied the ticket and it was allotted to Taimur Jhagra.

He said that PTI had four district councillors in PK-72. Owing to the decision of awarding ticket to a new entrant, one of the councillors, Qari Zahir, joined PML-N, while another councillor Mohammad Faheem has decided to run as independent candidate. Mr Faheem made the decision at the behest of his supporters and party workers from PK-72.

PTI senior vice president for Peshawar Zafrullah Khattak told Dawn that he was ignored and a member of the district council, Mohammad Asif, was allotted ticket for PK-76. “I have been working for PTI in PK-76 for the last 10 years and made efforts to organise the party,” he said.

Mr Khattak said that PTI would be in trouble if it failed to award tickets on merit. He added that the decision of PTI leadership might endanger several seats of the provincial assembly in Peshawar.

PTI Peshawar division president Shah Farman was not available for comment.

Differences crop up in PTI Lower Dir

Serious differences have cropped up in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Lower Dir, after announcement of party tickets for 2018 general elections, our correspondent from Timergara reports.

A dissident group of the party on Sunday announced to field independent candidates in all constituencies of the district if the leadership failed to satisfy ideological workers within 24 hours.

The dissident workers, including PTI former district president Fakhruz Zaman, Qamar Zaman, Mohammad Salim and others, made the announcement during a press conference at Chakdara Press Club. The group also announced formation of PTI Haqiqi Group in the district and decided to field own candidates in independent capacity in all seven constituencies of Lower Dir.

The PTI activists blamed divisional president Mehmood Khan, former MNA Murad Saeed and distrcit president Bashir Khan for supporting award of tickets without any merit. The group alleged that all the tickets in Lower Dir had been distributed to new entrants in violation of merit.

They said that diehard old workers had been ignored and demanded of the leadership to take notice of this injustice and satisfy the workers within 24 hours. Otherwise, they warned to field independent candidates against the party nominees.

Also in the day, PTI former general secretary Ali Shah Mishwani told a gathering in Jandol that the party leadership had failed to distribute tickets on merit. He, however, said that he was not quitting the party.

“We can’t convince voters to vote for PTI as there seems no justice in selection of party candidates,” he said, adding that the ideology of change and merit had been killed by leaders in award of tickets. In Talash, another PTI activist Fazal Wahab announced to contest election from PK-15 as an independent candidate.

Talking to mediapersons in Talash, he said that he had been promised party ticket for which he had come from Saudi Arabia. He said that tickets were allotted to people who joined the party due to its popularity. He said he would never withdraw his nomination papers and would contest the election as independent candidate.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2018