RAWALPINDI: After the route of the PML-N rally was changed from the motorway to the G.T. Road, local party leaders had to cancel their arrangements for Sunday.

The governing party had tasked all union council chairmen and vice chairmen from the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation, the District Council and elected members of the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards to bring rallies of party workers and supporters to accompany Mr Sharif.

Although former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was appointed regional coordinator, he had yet to meet the local leaders and discuss arrangements for the rally.

A senior PML-N leader told Dawn the party had completed all the arrangements to welcome Mr Sharif on his arrival at Motorway Chowk and join him on his way to Lahore.

However, he said, the plan changed and workers and supporters will now join the former prime minister’s rally in Rawat, as the party had changed the route from the motorway to the G.T. Road.

He said there were two reasons for the change of plans.

“One is party leaders realising that all the cities and main parts of Punjab fall on the G.T. Road route and are known as PML-N supporting areas. The route was selected to seek more public support and the motorway route would not yield [the same] results,” he said.

Secondly, he said, the party was advised by intelligence agencies to avoid crowds around Mr Sharif, so it was decided that he would travel to Lahore while resting as main cities.

He said all the union council chairmen were asked to bring at least 10 vehicles and active party workers had also been asked to make arrangements. The hiring of cars had begun in the garrison city, and most cars had been booked for a week.

When asked about any meeting with the former interior minister, he said local party leaders received indirect messages from the party leadership that their performance would be monitored by various sources, including the police’s Special Branch.

He said party tickets would be decided on the performance of party leaders in a time of difficulty, and this message was conveyed to local leaders at a local chapter meeting in Rawalpindi on Aug 2.

Meanwhile, local leaders have made their plans for the rally. Local Chaklala cantonment leaders will lead a rally from Talhi Mori to Rawat led by Chaklala Cantonment Board Vice President Raja Irfan Imtiaz, and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board Vice President Malik Munir and MNA Malik Abrar will lead a rally from Peshawar Road.

Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Naseem, and former MNAs Hanif Abbasi and Malik Shakil Awan will bring separate rallies, while Senator Chaudhry Tanveer will bring a rally from the cantonment areas.

Mr Abrar said the party had changed the route to G.T. Road because the residents of various cities had asked to welcome Mr Sharif.

He said supporters have made plans to join the main rally at three points, at Faizabad, Koral Chowk near the airport and D-Chowk, Rawat.

Mr Awan told Dawn the party has made all the arrangements for Wednesday and the workers are ready to accompany Mr Sharif to Lahore.

He said local party leaders had shunned their differences at this time to give the opposition the message that the PML-N was united under Mr Sharif’s leadership.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2017