RAWALPINDI: Shortly after the PTI local chapter named its candidates for the cantonment elections, an aspirant along with his supporters protested outside the Punjab north office of the party in Saddar for denying him a ticket.

The protesters claimed that the name of their candidate was in the list but the members of a committee formed to finalise the candidates accommodated one of their own aspirants in his place.

Sheikh Shahid, a candidate for Ward 5 of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, told Dawn that his name was in the list but the party issued a letter to another candidate. “My name was written in the list but another aspirant, Dilpazeer Butt, showed me a letter issued to him by the party for the same seat,” he said.

He said Yasmeen Farooqi, one of the members of the committee, had also confirmed that his name was in the list. He said Ms Farooqi had apprised the PTI chairman of the matter.

Mr Shahid said he would stage sit-ins outside the party offices till the local leaders clarified the reasons for dropping his name.

Sheikh Shahid says his name was in the list of candidates but a selection committee accommodated one of their favourites in his place

A senior PTI leader told Dawn that the party had finalised the list of candidates on April 3 but the PTI Punjab president Ijaz Chaudhry, MPA Asif Mehmood and PTI cantonment president Muqarab Chaudhry changed the names at the last moment.

He said Ijaz Chaudhry visited the garrison city last week and held a press conference but MPA Arif Abbasi, PTI district president Ijaz Khan Jazi and Punjab north office-bearers were not invited to the event.

He said Ijaz Chaudhry joined the PTI after leaving Jamaat-i-Islami. Old party leaders, including MPA Arif Abbasi and Ijaz Khan Jazi, still do not accept him.

He said due to the differences among them, many favourite candidates of the local leaders were denied party tickets.

PTI Punjab north secretary general Zahid Kazmi said he was appointed as the in-charge of the public campaign, adding his role was limited to launching campaigns for the party.

When contacted, MPA Arif Abbasi, who was a member of the committee, admitted that they (committee members) had finalised the list.

He said Sheikh Shahid was among the candidates but he did not know who struck his name off the list.

However, he said the list was changed after an approval from the PTI Punjab president Ijaz Chaudhry.

PTI candidates for Rawalpindi Cantonment Board: Haji Ejaz, Ward No 1; Zia Kausar, Ward No 2; Majeed Khan, Ward No 3 ; Asim Bhai, Ward No 4; Malik Abid, Ward No 5; Raja Tahir Ward, No 6; Ijaz Satti, Ward No 7; Malik Tehleel, Ward No 8; Malik Abdul Kareem, Ward No 9, and Atif Qureshi, Ward No10.

Chaklala Cantonment Board: Mohammad Ishaq, Ward No, 1; Malik Pervaiz, Ward No 2; Zulfiqar, Ward No 3; Sajjad Akhter, Ward No 4; Dilpazeer Butt, Ward No 5; Ajmeer Khan, Ward No 6; Khalid Jadoon, Ward No 7; Mohammad Rashid, Ward No 8; Chaudhry Imran, Ward No 9, and Zeeshan Mumtaz Warraich, Ward No 10.

On the other hand, the PPP has still not announced its candidates for 10 wards. On Tuesday, PPP City chapter led by Amir Fida Paracha finalised the names of 10 candidates.

PPP candidates in Rawalpindi Cantonment Board: Raja Shaukat Mehmood, Ward No,2; Ch. Amir, Ward No 3; Feroz Bhatti, Ward No 4; Aamir Siddiqui, Ward No 6, and Mohammad Shahid, Ward No 10.

Chaklala Cantonment Board: Iqbal Khattak, Ward No 1; Shafique Jadoon, Ward No 2; Asad Rauf, Ward No 6; Malik Imtiaz, Ward No 7, and Malik Naseer Ward No 9.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2015

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