SWABI: The Awami National Party plans to bring the annoyed leaders and workers back into the party fold by removing their reservations with a view to strengthening the ANP’s position in the Swabi district before the local government and general elections, party sources told Dawn on Friday.

They said party’s provincial president Aimal Wali Khan had issued directives in this connection. They recalled that membership of the office-bearers of the Swabi and Topi tehsils was suspended last year by Aimal Wali during a visit to the district.

They said some of the members did not attend a single meeting of Mr Aimal in protest. Afterwards, they added membership of various leaders was restored.

The sources said ANP’s central leadership was of the view that it was need of the hour to bring the old guards back into the party to prepare for the next elections.

They said the party’s provincial working committee at a meeting in Peshawar in June had decided that the leaders and workers, who remained annoyed over different reasons, but did not join any other party, would be persuaded to rejoin the ANP after addressing their reservations.

They said the provincial committee headed by senior leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and another committee for Peshawar, Swabi, Mardan and Charsadda led by former chief minister Ameer Haider Khan would try to remove reservations of the annoyed leaders and workers in the province.

During the 2018 general elections, the ANP, which remained dominant in the district till 2013, suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

In a separate development, the police recovered over one kilogramme ice, 80 gram charas and Rs577,440 cash from the house of a drug smuggler, but the accused escaped before the police raid here on Friday.

DSP headquarters Noorul Amin Khan, who is also the head of narcotics eradication team, told Dawn the raid was conducted on the house of Aamir Khan in Maneri Bala village.

In another development, three children, including two sisters, were injured when a pistol they tried to bring down from a wall went off in Sard Cheena village of Razaar tehsil on Friday.

The police said the children aged 11, 9 and 12 were brought to the Yar Husasin Civil Hospital.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2021