PTI reaches out to its ‘estranged’ members ahead of Senate polls

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is busy wooing its estranged members ahead of the Senate elections, on Saturday. 

In this connection, Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mushtaq Ghani and Provincial Minister for Local Bodies Akbar Ayub Khan are reaching out to members of the party who have developed differences with the leadership for one reason or the other. 

Both Ghani and Khan met with Liaquat Khattak, former KP minister and brother of Defence Minister Pervez Khattak.

Liaquat Khattak’s differences with the PTI leadership came to light following party’s defeat in PK-63 Nowshera by-election on February 19.

 Pervez Khattak’s refusal to hand Liaquat Khattak’s son Ahad Khattak ticket for by-election in the constituency proved to be a bone of contention. 

In what could be termed a rare spectacle, Ahad Khattak was seen celebrating the victory of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate in the by-election.

Ahad Khattak, who wanted PTI ticket for himself, exploded firecrackers and partied with his friends to express joy over the victory of PML-N’s Ikhtiyar Wali Khan.

The PML-N candidate had got 21,122 votes while his opponent PTI candidate Mian Umar secured 17,023 votes.

ANP candidate Mian Wajahat got 4,270 votes and TLP candidate Allama Sanaullah managed to get only 619 votes.