MANSEHRA: Most people aspiring to contest the May 30 local body elections in Mansehra district and its Oghi, Mansehra and Balakot tehsils have applied for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf tickets.

As the Election Commission began receiving nomination papers for the upcoming electoral contest on Monday, PTI received 170 applications for tickets.

A total of aspirants applied for the tickets of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which swept the 2013 general elections in the district by clinching four MPA and two MNA seats.

Pakistan People’s Party, which is part of the tri-party opposition alliance in the province, received 80 ticket applications, Jamaat-i-Islami 59 and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl 70.

“We have started finalising the names of contenders from among 170 applicants in the district and its three tehsils,” said Shafaat Ali, the PTI district president.

He said PTI would field candidates in every union councils and hoped to sweep the local body elections to install district and tehsil governments in Mansehra.

PPP district president Malik Mohammad Farooq said besides making an alliance with other opposition parties, his party was also

supporting independent candidates in certain districts and that such independents would join their party after victory.

“It doesn’t matter how many people have applied for party tickets.

What really matters is that who is going to install district and tehsil governments. We are confident to head the next local bodies in Mansehra,” he said.

JUI-F district chief Syed Hidayatullah Shah said his party would name candidates on April 16 and would win majority of wards and union councils in the district.

Dr Tariq Sherazi, the district chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, said his party had fielded 35 candidates for tehsil elections and 24 for district elections.

He said his party would name election candidates until the last date of ticket submission to the Election Commission.

PROTEST STAGED: The people of Shanaya union council in Oghi on Monday took to the streets to demand the immediate halt to work on Puldogha water supply scheme.

The protesters gathered outside the press club and shouted slogans against the Oghi municipal committee over the scheme.

They said the Puldoha scheme would leave the residents of almost 10 villages without water.

The protesters said villagers got a stay order against the scheme but the contractor violated the order and continued with the work.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2015

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