PESHAWAR: After getting a clean chit from the party leadership in the probe into selling of votes in the recent Senate elections, Qaumi Watan Party MPAs Bakht Baidar Khan and Sultan Mehmood advocate have vowed to double their efforts for strengthening the organisational units in their respective areas so that the party could win maximum number of seats in the coming local government elections.

Speaking at a joint press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, the MPAs said that the party leadership had issued them show cause notices concerning Senate elections. “The party leadership has declared us innocent after a thorough probe and we are thankful to chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao for reposing trust in us and rejecting all allegations concerning selling of votes,” they said.

“We have always been loyal to the Sherpao family and will remain dedicated to the party cause,” they said.

Bakht Baidar said that he had long association with the Sherpao family because Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao was his political teacher. “I have learnt a lot from the Sherpao family and will prove my loyalty to it in future,” he said.

He, however, claimed that some people within the party were busy creating misunderstanding among the party people, but they would never succeed.

Mr Sultan said that the inquiry committee, headed by the QWP chairman, had cleared them of the allegations a few days ago. He said that QWP had completed preparations to contest the upcoming LG elections and it would get an overwhelming majority in different areas of the province.

The MPAs said that the allied parties in the opposition alliance were not following their agreement and had joined hands with other partiers in different districts. They said that the visit of Chinese president to Pakistan was a welcome step, but the federal government had ignored Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the agreements.

Meanwhile, QWP provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Sherpao said that owing to discriminatory policies of the federal government and inability of the provincial government the problems of people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were increasing day by day. He was speaking at a public meeting at Hindko Daman here on Tuesday.

He said that the ruling parties were not sincere to serve the people. On this occasion, several activists of ANP joined QWP. He said that the provincial government had failed to plead the case of KP pertaining to rights of the people in the centre and thus the federal government also avoided to support the province.

Sikandar Sherpao said that it was the duty of the federal government to remove unrest among the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata by giving them due share in the development funds and jobs and consider proposals of the federating units while framing policies.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2015

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