F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek Insaf badly failed to end grouping within the party due to its delay in naming its candidates for Tehsil chairmen slots in all the seven tehsils of the district. Several PTI diehard activists on Friday (the last date for submission of nomination papers) submitted their papers within the respective returning officers in Timergara, Balambat, Lal Qila, Adenzai and Samarbagh.
For Timergara (the district headquarter) Tehsil Malik Inam Khan, Malik Ibrahim Khan and MPA Shafiullah Khan’s son Malik Kashif Kamal submitted their nomination papers with the RO Tahir Ali Khattak. In Samarbagh the PTI ideological worker Ali Shah Mishwani and MNA Bashir Khan’s nephew Jawad Khan submitted the nomination papers for the Tehsil chairman slot. Similarly in Balambat Tehsil the PTI dissident Syed Alam Shah alias Thany Khan submitted their nomination papers as an independent candidate. In Lal Qila Maidan Tehsil Mubarak Jan alias Khan Sherin and Syed Abdullah Shah while in Adenzai Tehsil the PTI Tiger force district president Awal Khan submitted the nomination papers for the Tehsil chairman slot.
The party has not named its official candidates so far. The insiders told this scribe that the party would announce its candidates for Tehsil chairmen in all the seven tehsils of Lower Dir on Feb, 27 that is the last data for getting party ticket.
Addressing different workers’ gatherings at Timergara and Samarbagh, Malik Inam Khan and Ali Shah Mishwani warned the party leadership that they would contest the local bodies’ polls as independent candidates if tickets were not awarded to workers. Both the dissidents reached the RO offices along with big processions. The Timergara gathering held outside the local press club was also addressed by another PTI activist Malik Rahat who announced to withdraw in favour of Malik Inam Khan and fully support him.
The PTI provincial president and defense minister Pervez Khattak during a workers’ convention held here at Timergara on January 24, had warned the party workers of strict disciplinary action in case of creating group in the party and had asked such workers to part their ways if they chose to contest the LB polls as independent candidates. He had made it clear that the party would never tolerate grouping within the party ranks.
