LOWER DIR: All the political parties except Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf nominated their candidates for the tehsil chairman slots in the seven tehsils of Lower Dir district here on Friday.

Jamaat-i-Islami awarded its ticket to advocate Riaz Mohammad for Timergara tehsil, advocate Imranuddin for Balambat, Saeed Ahmad for Samarbagh, Mohammad Humayun for Munda, Fazal Wadood for Lal Qila, Azizullah Khan for Adenzai andAkhunzada Kalimullah for Khall tehsil.

Similarly, JUI-F awarded its ticket to Mufti Irfanuddin for Timergara, Haji Shakirullah for Balambat, Khurshid Khan for Munda, Javed Iqbal for Adenzai, Qari Noor Zaman for Samarbagh, Maulana Wazir Zada for Lal Qila and Maulana Rahimullah for Khall tehsil.

The PML-N nominated Barrister Attaullah Khan for Adenzai tehsil top slot, Malik Numan for Khall, Yasir Khan for Balambat and Mohammad Zaman for Samarbagh tehsil.

The PPP awarded its ticket for the tehsil chairman slot to Naeemullah in Adenzai, Malik Barkat Khan in Timergara, Mazhar Khan in Balambat and Majid Khan in Samarbagh.

The ANP announced names of its candidates for the tehsil chairman slots. Malik Sajjad Khan will contest from Timergara, Mohammad Ayub from Balambat and Haji Inayatullah from Munda on the ANP ticket.

Meanwhile, PTI failed to end groupings within the party due to delay in naming its candidates for the tehsil chairman slots in seven tehsils of the district.

Several diehard activists of PTI submitted their papers with the respective returning officers in Timergara, Balambat, Lal Qila, Adenzai and Samarbagh on Friday, the last date for submission of nomination papers.

For Timergara tehsil Malik Inam Khan, Malik Ibrahim Khan and MPA Shafiullah Khan’s son Kashif Kamal submitted their nomination papers with the RO Tahir Ali Khattak. In Samarbagh, PTI activist Ali Shah Mishwani and Jawad Khan submitted papers for the tehsil chairman slot.

Similarly, in Balambat tehsil PTI dissident Alam Shah submitted his nomination papers as an independent candidate. Mubarak Jan and Abdullah Shah filed their papers in Lal Qila Maidan and Awal Khan in Adenzai for the tehsil chairman slot.

The party has not named its official candidates so far. Insiders told this scribe that PTI would announce its candidates for the tehsil chairman slots in all the seven tehsils of Lower Dir on Feb 27, the last date for getting party ticket.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2022