KHAR: Awami National Party provincial president Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Tuesday vowed to pay special attention to the mainstreaming of Fata if his party came to power in the province after the general elections.

He stated this while addressing a public meeting held in connection with kick starting election campaign of his party in NA-40 and NA-41, at government girls high school ground in Khar.

It was the first public meeting of any political party in the region after the Fata-KP merger.

The former chief minister said that provision of basic facilities to the people of tribal region were among the top priorities of ANP election manifesto. He said the tribesmen had always rendered sacrifices for the country’s larger interest.

“We will bring the tribal region on a par with the developed parts of the country,” he promised. He claimed that the ANP was the only political party well-aware of the problems of tribal people.

He said his party would also establish at least one university in every tribal region, adding ANP’s agenda was to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the people.

Mr Hoti said it had long been struggling to merge Fata with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claiming that his party had played a key role in the Fata-KP merger.

He was of the view that after the merger a new era of development and prosperity would begin in the region.

The ANP provincial president lashed out at the JI and JUI-F for using Islam for their personal interests, saying both the parties had no vision for the welfare of common man. He said the people of KP would reject them in the elections for misleading them in the name of Islam.

The ANP leader also criticised the PTI for deceiving the people of the province in name of change, saying that the party of Imran Khan had failed to fulfill its promises made with the people during the 2013 general elections. He insisted that the people of Pakistan in general and KP in particular would not vote for PTI candidates in the coming elections.

The gathering was also addressed by Malik Gul Zada and Gul Afzal Khan, ANP candidates for the two national constituencies. They called upon the workers to keep unity among their ranks and make all-out efforts for the party’s success.

On the occasion, workers of different political parties announced joining the ANP.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2018