MARDAN: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has interviewed three district councillors of his party so as to select one of them for the slot of Mardan district nazim, party sources said.

They said that the party had secured 46 of the total 112 seats of the district council of Mardan city in the recent local government elections. They said that seven of 46 members of the PTI had applied for the slot of district nazim. And those who had applied for the said slot included Mohammad Shahid Bacha, Umar Farooq Kaka Kheil, Abdus Sattar, Arshid Khan, Aurangzeb Khan, Shahid Siraj and Dad Khan.

However, they said that three candidates, including Mohammad Shahid Bacha, Umar Farooq Kakakhel and Abdus Sattar were interviewed by the PTI chairman in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, Islamabad, on Friday night after short-listing of the applicants by the relevant authorities of PTI.

Among the interviewed district council members, Shahid Bacha had obtained 2,146 votes in elections in Mardan rural union council, Abdus Sattar 2,000 votes in the Mohib Banda union council and Mr Kakakhel was elected on the PTI ticket on the reserved seat.

However, some insiders in PTI claim that Mr Bacha is a strong candidate for the slot of district nazim. They said that Mr Bacha had secured more votes than the other two rival candidates. The PTI claims to have 63 of the total 112 seats in the district council, Mardan, after joining hands with Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamaat-i-Islam.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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