RAWALPINDI: Despite instructions from the PTI leadership to take at least 500 activists and supporters to Raiwind, the lawmakers and leaders of the party in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad left for the town near Lahore alone or with a few workers.

The much trumpeted rally launched by Imran Khan to Raiwind failed to attract the opposition parties, including Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT) of Dr Tahirul Qadri, which had staged the 2014 sit-in against the PML-N government in Islamabad along with the PTI.

On Friday morning, MPA Arif Abbasi from PP-13, Asif Mehmood PP-9, Malik Taimoor PP-8 and MNA Ghulam Sarwar Khan from Taxila moved to Raiwind without any rallies.

Only MPAs Rashid Hafeez and Ijaz Khan Jazi took out small rallies which later merged with a rally taken out by PTI Chaklala Cantonment leader Mohammad Ajmal, who lost the 2013 elections from NA-52 to Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, and the PTI city president Chaudhry Asghar.

Other leaders, including Zahid Kazmi and Sadaqat Abbasi, also left for Lahore without any rally. And, strangely, the PTI Punjab north president Amir Kiani failed to arrange any rally from Islamabad. “Amir Kiani arrived at the Motorway Chowk in the morning and joined small rallies coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Rawalpindi,” a senior local PTI leader told Dawn.

He said due to the internal differences in the PTI, the local leaders failed to bring out a main rally from Rawalpindi or Islamabad and arranged small rallies. “Three small rallies were taken out by Mohammad Ajmal with 11 vehicles, Chaudhry Asghar with 12 vehicles and Chaudhry Meherban from NA-49 Islamabad that consisted of over 35 vehicles and 75 people.”

He said Ghulam Sarwar Khan was angry with the local leadership as the PTI Punjab north did not play any active role in the recent by-elections in Taxila where his nephew was defeated by the PML-N candidate.

“Soon after the by-elections, the PTI local chapter arranged an Eid milan at Chakri village which drew resentment from Sarwar Khan,” he said.

He said in the garrison city where Imran Khan was elected from NA-56 in 2013, the party was without any office and the local residents had to approach Hanif Abbasi of the PML-N for the resolution of their issues.

When contacted, MPA Arif Abbasi told Dawn that he and MPA Rashid Hafeez had joined the rally from the Chaklala Cantonment. He refused to comment on the absence of workers from his constituency in the rally and said all the party workers from the garrison city had left for Lahore.

PTI Punjab north former general secretary Zahid Kazmi said he came to Lahore with his friends to join the public meeting at Raiwind. He said the new office-bearers and MPAs were responsible for bringing people to the protest gathering.

However, the new party organisation was also not seen in the garrison city.

PTI Punjab north president Amir Kiani appointed Haroon Hashmi as the district president and Sardar Nasim as the general secretary last week but they also failed to arrange any rally for the Raiwind march.

A senior party leader told Dawn that the workers and supporters did not know the new office-bearers and neither the latter tried to contact the workers last week.He said making appointments in the PTI was a new phenomenon which it borrowed from the PML-N and the PPP as in the past the PTI office-bearers were elected through intra-party elections. “And, the result of the appointments is visible when they failed to prove their worth,” he said.

Haroon Hashmi and Sardar Nasir were not available for comments as their mobile phones were switched off.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2016

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