HYDERABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s candidates for provincial and National assemblies complained on Saturday that police were harassing them in order to demoralize the party leaders and workers and shift their focus away from running election campaign.

The PTI candidates, Faisal Mughal advocate, Dr Mustansir Billah and others said at a news conference at local press club on Saturday that the party’s bona fide candidates were those wo had had been awarded tickets and whose names had been posted on the party’s web portal.

Mughal said that people like Ahmed Rasheed were misguiding people with their claims that they were contesting on PTI ticket. Rasheed had left PTI to join Pak Sarzameen Party. Later, he announced his return to the PTI but his membership issue remained unsettled, he said.

He thanked Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen leadership for supporting him and other party candidates. A local representative of MWM Waqar Zaidi announced full support for PTI’s candidates in Hyderabad in line with the party chief Allama Nasir Abbas’s directives at the news conference.

He said that MWM stood against Yazidi forces to support PTI. He was given symbol of ‘laptop’ for NA-220 and Dr Mustansir Billah was awarded ‘sheep’ for NA-219, he said.

He said that some people had infiltrated into PTI and were misusing the party’s name. The vote belonged to Imran Khan and the PTI’s candidates who were issued tickets were representatives of Khan, he said.

Dr Billah said that police were harassing them so that he and other candidates did not focus on their campaign and lose heart to fight polls. On Friday police trespassed into his house and intimidated him, he said.

He wondered why Supreme Court did not take notice of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s statement that he would form government in centre with the support of independent candidates, which clearly implied that he would buy the independents, who would largely come from PTI.

Mughal said that he would be filing a contempt of court application against police, which had become ‘pawns’ in the hands of some elements and were being used to intimidate PTI candidates.

He said that PA candidates included Afroz Shoro, Lala Awais, Naeemuddin, Shoaib Shaukat and Rehan Rajput.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2024