PESHAWAR: AT least eight disgruntled activists of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, who had applied for PK-73, Peshawar-VII, on Monday announced that they would support the party’s nominee Taimoor Jhagra and run his election campaign with full vigour.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, PTI Peshawar district president Syed Ishtiaq Urmar said there was no grouping in the party and all the PTI people who had applied for PK-73 had withdrawn their nominations in favour of the party’s nominee.

Flanked by the aspiring candidates, including Adnan Mamraiz, Mujahid Ali, Mazhar Wakeel Durani Advocate, Alama Iqbal, Engr Faheem, Aisha Bano, Asiya Khattak and Somaiya Baloch, Mr Urmar said they would support the ticket holder in order to ensure his success in the elections.

The PTI leaders said that they had no objection over the allotment of ticket to Taimoor Jhagra, who was also present on the occasion, and that they would follow the party decision at all costs. They said they were struggling for promotion the vision of Imran Khan and did not use the party flag for their personal interests.

They demanded of all the disgruntled party workers to set aside their differences and accept the decision of the leadership, saying that their support would help the party’s candidate win the polls easily.

Mr Urmar said hundreds of PTI workers had applied for the tickets, but it was not impossible to award tickets to all the applicants.

On the occasion, Taimoor Jhagra thanked the party people for their support and said that he had no long career in politics but he had a political background. “I was not keen for the party ticket but PTI chairman Imran Khan awarded me it after viewing my hard work on reforms in different fields, including education, tax and other sectors,” he explained.

Responding to a query about his Aqama (work permit), he said he had mentioned all the assets in the nomination papers with the election commission. “Aqma is not a sin but to conceal it is a crime,” he said and added that he spent nine years in Dubai.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2018