UPPER DIR: Awami National Party provincial president and former chief minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has said that their party is ready to extend ‘hand of friendship’ to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for the sake of progress and unity of the country. 

He was addressing a public gathering in Wari, organised in connection with the election campaign of PPP candidate Sahibzada Sanaullah. PPP provincial general secretary Hamayun Khan, tripartite alliance (ANP, PPP and JUI-F) provincial general secretary Najamudin Khan, Malak Mohammad Zeb Khan and others were also present on the occasion.

Mr Hoti said that his party would always remain indebted of former president Asif Ali Zardari and his party PPP for supporting ANP in renaming the province as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that people should not be deceived with a bag of cement, water pipes or installing solar penal in streets. Rather, he said, the real progress and development was to establish universities, hospitals, roads and execute major development projects.

Mr Hoti said that he had established nine universities during the five-year tenure of his provincial government. Apart from it, the ANP government had also established medical colleges including Bacha Khan Medical College in Mardan, he added.

Mr Hoti alleged that during Senate elections in the previous government, an MPA from Upper Dir had demanded money to vote for ANP candidate. He said that the four-party alliance of PPP, ANP, PML-N and JUI-F would easily defeat JI candidate on Sept 15.

He asked the ANP workers to expedite their campaign for Sanaullah and convince each and every voter in the constituency. He said that voters could not be bought by giving them a bag of cement and pipe. He advised voters to take pipe, cement and cash from JI’s ministers but vote for the candidate of four-party alliance. Mr Hoti said that he had spent Rs550 billion to construct and repair of 6,000 masques in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that JI was a non-custom paid vehicle that was only limited to Upper and Lower Dir districts.

Najamudin Khan, Hamayun Khan, Raja Ameer Zaman, Sanaullah Khan and others also addressed the meeting. They said that they had formed the alliance to free the people of PK-93 from JI’s slavery.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2015

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