MANSEHRA: Workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the PTI-Parliamentarians hurled accusations and insults at each other here on Friday during the scrutiny of nomination papers for the Feb 8 general elections.

The PTI workers reached the office of the returning officer along with election candidates of the party Kamal Saleem Swati (NA-14) and his Babar Saleem Swati (PK-37).

After seeing Salah Mohammad Khan, who recently quit the PTI to join the PTI-P, they shouted slogans of ‘lota’, ‘lota’ (turncoats) against him.

Mr Salah’s supporters and PTI-P workers responded angrily by shouting slogans against PTI chairman Imran Khan.

Candidate alleges pre-poll rigging in Mansehra

Local elder Matiul Haq stepped in and asked workers of both parties to cool down.

Mr Salah said he and his supporters were law-abiding people but the PTI workers shouldn’t test their patience.

He also asked them not to“create a law and order situation“ on the premises.

The PTI-P leader was out of the country when his nomination papers were submitted but returned to be present before the returning officer during their scrutiny.

Without naming his rival candidate in NA-15 and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, he said those rejected by the people of the Punjab province wanted to reach the National Assembly via Mansehra.

Mr Salah alleged pre-poll rigging in his constituency.

“The machinery of the Punjab government is being used here to carry out the election campaign [of Nawaz Sharif],” he said.

The PTI-P leader said he stood with former prime minister Imran Khan after winning the National Assembly elections in 2018 as an independent candidate but never sold his “consciousness” even during the Senate elections when a single vote was “sold” for Rs500 million.

PROTEST: Lady health workers protested the non-payment of salary here on Friday.

They warned if the salary withheld for six months wasn’t paid by Jan 4, they would stage a sit-in in Peshawar.

The LHWs gathered outside the deputy commissioner’s offices and shouted slogans against authorities over the non-payment of salary.

Protester Nazli Saleem insisted that LHWs hadn’t got salary for the last six months.

“We all are struggling to make ends meet for being unpaid for half a year,” she said, The protesters also met the deputy commissioner and district health officer and told them if their dues weren’t cleared, they won’t take part in the upcoming polio vaccination campaign in the district.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2023