MANSEHRA: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Monday terminated the basic membership of its nine leaders for supporting and running the campaign of an independent candidate against its woman nominee for Torghar district’s only provincial assembly constituency.

The leaders include former district nazim Dilroz Khan, former PTI district president Taj Mehreen Shah, former district councillor Saifullah Khan and former members of district cabinet Umar Ayub Khan,Naseeb Wahab, Raqib Dad, Abdul Rehman, Nazeer Alam and Abid Khan.

They were informed about the action through a letter by PTI president in Hazara division Babar Saleem Swati.

“You all have been supporting, and running the election campaign of an independent against the party’s nominee, Shakila Rabbani, in your constituency of PK-41 and therefore, your basic [party’s] membership is terminated immediately,” the letter read.

It added that the party won’t spare office-bearers and leaders, who challenged its discipline.

When contacted, Mr Dilroz claimed the PTI divisional president wasn’t empowered to terminate basic membership of any leader.

He warned if the terminated memberships weren’t restored, he and other leaders would move the court of law.

Mr Dilroz said the PTI divisional and district bodies earlier decided to field resident Said Laiq Aziz Shah for election in PK-41 while party Senator Azam Khan Swati fielded a woman, Shakeela Rabbani,to benefit his brother and independent candidate, Laiq Mohammad Khan.

“We can’t allow anybody to use the party for personal gains and therefore, we are campaigning for an independent candidate,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed contenders have submitted surety bonds to the party here declaring they will remain loyal to it and its founder, Imran Khan, after winning general elections.

They include Zahid Chanzeb (PK-38), Akramullah (PK-39) and Abdul Shakoor (PK-40).

The bonds were attested by the notary public.

In the bonds attested by the notary public, they declared they would never become part of any future forward bloc in the party.

PTI-backed contender in PK-14 Mansehra-I Saleem Imran Swati also promised on oath to remain loyal to Imran.

“We have joined politics to serve the people and will never get involved in horse-trading after becoming an assembly member,” he declared in a public gathering here while holding a copy of the Holy Quran.

To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2024