SWABI: Differences have surfaced in the Awami National Party’s Swabi chapter, which will have far-reaching impact on its performance in the coming elections.

It is learnt that local party leaders have started castigating each other openly on social media.

Gohar Rehman, former provincial president of Malgary Ustazan, teachers’ wing of ANP, in a social media post alleged some leaders were bent upon destroying the party in the district. He appealed to ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan to notice of the situation.

Another leader said the current leadership of the party in Swabi won’t be able to deliver during the elections, which would be a huge loss to the party’s popularity in the district, once its stronghold.

Another leader through a social media post asked the party’s district cabinet to focus on the whole district instead of only Razaar tehsil.

Political observers said the central leadership had failed to address concerns of the disgruntled leaders in Swabi.

However, other leaders said internal differences were not new to ANP as prominent leaders had also left it in the past, but the party kept its support base intact.

The internal rifts have surfaced despite the fact that party’s key leaders, including acting central president Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti, provincial president Aimal Wali and general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak visited the district recently and addressed workers’ conventions.

BOOKS RECOVERED: Hundreds of school books were recovered from a junkyard in the Swabi Bazaar during a raid by the district administration officials the other day. These books are meant to be provided to students free of cost.

Additional deputy commissioner Allah Nawaz led the raid and seized hundreds of books from the junkyard.

Deputy commissioner Gohar Ali constituted an inquiry committee to unearth as to how the books ended up in a junkyard. Officials said mostly the books were of 9th and 10th grades.

Separately, thieves looted Rs1 million from a travel agency in the Swabi city the other day.

Iftikhar Ahmad, manager of the agency, told the police he went to offer afternoon prayers in a nearby mosque after locking the doors, but when he returned the doors were open and Rs1 million was missing from the drawers inside the shop.

The police registered an FIR and started investigation.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2023