PESHAWAR, Jan 11: Over 40 union council nazims, affiliated with the Awami National Party, threatened on Friday that they would dislodge Peshawar Nazim by bringing a no-confidence motion against him on Jan 14 for his anti-people stance on certain issues.

Talking to journalists outside the Peshawar Press Club, Pawikka union council nazim Kifayatullah Khan said they enjoyed support of 23 other nazims, belonging to the Jamaat-i-Islami, in their campaign against District Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali.

The ANP-backed nazims, who had setup a protest camp to register their protest against load-shedding and non-availability of flour in the district, claimed that 65 nazims out of 92 had endorsed their move against the district nazim.

They said the city district government had failed to take any action against grain-hoarders and black-marketers, who were involved in the flour crisis. They said the city district government had opened 92 points in all union councils to distribute flour bags among people, but it had not consulted to nazims for distribution of flour to needy people.

They said: “We know about needy ones in our union councils.”

Atifur Rehman, a candidate of ANP for PF-5, Peshwar-V, accused that his rival candidate, Maulana Amanullah Haqqani, a nominee of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, had been provided with a lot of flour bags to distribute in the area.

He said that it was an unfair practice on the part of the city district government.

He said that it was a business of union council nazims to facilitate the government in handing out low-price flour bags to people.

District Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali visited the protest camp and tried to pacify estranged nazims.

Giving his version of the story, Haji Ghulam Ali said they had set up 92 flour distribution points in the city.

“The staff of city district government distributes 240 flour bags every day in each union council. Nazims want to distribute flour bags on their own. They want me to get out of the business and make them in charge of flour distribution, which is not possible,” he said.

In the wake of flour crisis, he said that the government had increased the grinding quota of the flour mills from 20,000 bags to 30,000 bags.

He said they were trying to provide flour on prices fixed by the government in the district.

Our Reporter adds: Members of the district council on Friday held a demonstration and set up a camp outside the Peshawar Press Club in protest against short supply of flour to different union councils.

Talking to Dawn, they alleged that City Nazim Haji Gulam Ali had authorized some of his party men to supply atta to get political mileage while the UC nazims were given no role in the distribution system. Atif-ur-Rehman Khalil said the nazim belonged to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and had used the name of Islam and Quran for getting votes and now people were obliged through the atta supply.

Sardar Alam Khan, Saeed Zahir, Kifayatullahy Khan Khalil, Hidayatullah Khan, Arshad Khan and Momin Khan said they would continue protest till the proper supply of flour to people in their constituencies.

Opposing the role of city nazim in atta distribution, they said UC nazims should be authorised to distribute flour. He said the nazims would have no role in the distribution because it would bring a bad name to them.

He said the city required at least 50,000 bags on a daily basis and at present only 24,000 were being supplied.