KARAK: Following award of election tickets by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, the dissident candidates here have also submitted their nomination papers to contest the polls as independents.

Sources in PTI said here on Saturday that former lawmaker of the party Gul Sahib Khan had also filed his nomination papers in an independent capacity both for NA-34 and PK-85 after award of party ticket to Fareed Toofan.

Talking to mediapersons, Mr Gul claimed that he would contest the election at any cost. Likewise, an aspirant for PTI ticket Mansoor Khan has also filed nomination papers for PK-86 and claimed that ideological workers of the party would support him. He told mediapersons that that the party ticket for PK-86 had not been awarded on merit to former lawmaker Qasim Khan Khattak.

He claimed that the ideological workers had written on stamp papers to the party leadership that they would not support Qasim Khan.

The candidate of PTI in 2013 election for PK-86, Haji Saleem, has also filed his nomination paper in an independent capacity after he was denied the party ticket.

Similarly, serious difference surfaced in the ranks of MMA, Karak chapter, and JUI-F’s Javaid Iqbal Khattak, who had contested in the 2013 general election on party ticket, filed his nomination paper PK-85 in an independent capacity after he was denied the MMA ticket.

The MMA ticket for PK-85 has been awarded to Mian Nisar Gul.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2018