RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan will visit the garrison city on December 1, to campaign for his party candidates contesting the local government elections on December 5.

Mr Khan will visit various union councils (UC) in a day-long tour. This will be his second visit to Rawalpindi since winning the National Assembly seat from NA-56 in the 2013 general election.

MPA Arif Abbasi, the Rawalpindi Election Committee chairperson, told Dawn that Mr Khan was going to visit Rawalpindi to boost party workers’ morale.

He added that the district administration had been informed for security purposes. “We did not seek any permission for the rally or public meeting, but demanded security arrangements,” Mr Abbasi said.

PTI’s women’s wing, led by Fauzia Kasuri and Yasmeen Farooqi, will also visit various UCs to canvass for the elections.

He said PTI’s position had improved gradually in the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation’s (RMC) 46 UCs. He said that dissident candidates in three UCs, who had submitted nomination papers as independent candidates, had withdrawn in favour of the party.

“The ruling party will face a tough time in the local government polls, and after the party chairman’s visit to the city, all the differences within the party will end,” he said.

He claimed that the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) is patron of the ruling party, and development work initiated by civic bodies in various UCs was aimed at helping the ruling party candidates win votes.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015