PESHAWAR: Many people affiliated with other political parties have managed to get the tickets of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for the upcoming local government elections at the cost of diehard workers, who remained loyal to PTI chief Imran Khan since launch of the party, insiders say.

“The tickets have been allotted to those people, who remained with other parties but manoeuvred to get PTI’s tickets for the polls because they hope that the party will perform well against the fragile alliance of the opposition parties,” a former PPP worker now contesting elections on PTI ticket, told Dawn.

According to him, the reason behind the protest by the PTI activists was that they knew that people would vote for the party. However, he said, ideological workers of PTI were denied tickets and they were in the field as independent candidates. They could pose threat to those, who were contesting on party’s tickets, he added.

“It is a grassroots election and masses know that affiliation of people with political parties. They can secure votes from the people having soft corners for PTI,” he said.

Activists accuse provincial leadership of ignoring ideological workers

Khurshid Alam, a worker of PPP who joined PTI recently, was awarded ticket for union council 59 Sarband while PTI president in the same union council Mohammad Ayub was denied the ticket.

Likewise, PTI founding member and its general secretary in Town-III failed to get ticket for the district seat in union council-40 as the party opted for Arbab Shafaat Khan, who was not previously attached with the party.

In union council-36, Mohammad Baseer, a diehard worker of PTI, was ignored as the ticket went to Mujahid Ali, a former nazim of Town-III. Abdur Razzaq’s candidature was accepted by the party for union council-41 Palosai district member seat at the cost of Syed Saad Abdullah, a former provincial information secretary of PTI and president of its youth wing.

Saad Abdullah, who has been associated with PTI since 1996, also lodged a case at the University Town police station on May 16 alleging that MNA Hamidul Haq committed forgery in award of ticket. He alleged that ticket was originally awarded to him by the parliamentary committee of the party but the MNA forged the list.

Altaf Hussain, PTI president in union council-60 Pishtakhara, also failed to receive ticket despite lodging protest. The party has fielded a person, who remained associated with PPP, in the area for the polls.

In Bannu, Karak, Abbottabad, Haripur, Battagram and Mansehra districts, the situation remains the same.

Elected presidents and general secretaries of the party have failed to get tickets in these districts. In majority cases, tickets have been awarded to those people, who were associated with other political parties till recently.

The PTI workers blame Azam Swati, the provincial president of the party, for ignoring the ideological workers.

Zafarullah Khattak, a former president of the party in Peshawar city, didn’t even apply for the ticket. He said that PTI chairman had conceded injustices in award of tickets to the genuine people in the last general elections and then assured them that in future the party would give weight to the ideological and time-tested workers but the situation remained unchanged.

Mr Khattak said the traditional politicians made inroads in PTI as they knew that they could win on the basis of the party’s performance as it had brought reforms in police, education and other departments.

The protests by PTI workers against allotment of tickets to what they call wrong candidates for the polls have fallen on deaf ears and those activists, who have been denied the tickets, are in the field as independent candidates.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2015

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