ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has decided to retain Rawalpindi’s NA-56 seat, dampening the hopes of PML-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi to regain his lost honour in the by-elections.

The PTI chairman made the decision Wednesday after consulting his senior party leaders. A majority of his party leaders suggested he should retain the constituency of NA-56 because the chances of PTI winning this seat again may not be as bright as before.

Imran had won from three National Assembly constituencies: NA-1 Peshawar, NA-56 Rawalpindi and NA-71 Mianwali.

A senior PTI leader told Dawn.com that Khan might appease his cousins Hafizullah Niazi and Inamullah Niazi by awarding one of them the ticket to fight by-election from NA-71, Mianwali.

In the May 11 general elections, Mr Khan incurred ire from his extended family by denying his cousins the party tickets. Consequently, Inamullah Niazi contested as an independent candidate from the adjoining constituency of NA-72, but lost to a PTI candidate Amjid Ali Khan.

The PTI leadership believes it would be far easier for the party to win NA-1 Peshawar in the by-elections by fielding any appropriate candidate.

Meanwhile, PTI President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi is likely to vacate the seat of NA-48, Islamabad. In that case he would retain NA-149 Multan, which is his home constituency.

Several contenders have already started lobbying to get the PTI ticket from NA-48. Sources said local PTI leaders including Hassan Ayub, Dr Shahzad Wasim and Faisal Javed were vying for the party ticket from NA-48.

The prospects of Hassan Ayub or Faisal Javed winning the party ticket are brighter than Dr Waseem, sources say.

Mr Ayub is a scion of a very influential family in Golra. He and his father Shaheen Khan were said to be the driving force behind Hashmi’s success from rural areas of Islamabad.

Winning NA-48 was no less than a surprise for the local people and many observers since Hashmi did not belong to the area. Secondly, he started the campaign just a few days before the general elections.

Analysts say it was the massive PTI rally outside Parliament House at the conclusion of the election campaign (May 9) that turned the balance in Hashmi’s favour.

Hashmi, who once was a loyal comrade of Mian Nawaz Sharif, had joined the PTI in December 2011, after developing serious differences with top leadership, especially Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

—Reporting by Shahzad Raza. His twitter handle is @shahz79