MUZAFFARABAD: Supporters of a founding leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) staged a protest demonstration here on Sunday against withdrawal of his ticket for a district Muzaffarabad constituency.

A day earlier, the PTIissued a second list of its candidates for the upcoming general elections with two replacements while withholding its decision on four seats apparently to accommodate some allies.

Sardar Tabarak Ali, PTI’s district president, was awarded a party ticket from LA-27, Muzaffarabad-I, commonly known as Kutla, on May 29, when the first list of 34 out of 45 ticket holders was released PTI Chairman and Prime Minister Imran Khan.

However, on Saturday when the second list was issued whereby the decision on eight out of 11 pending seats was announced, Mr Ali’s ticket was given to Mir Attique, who had contested the 2016 elections as a nominee of Muslim Conference (MC).

On Sunday, a large number of Mr Ali’s supporters assembled at a marquee along the Western Bypass here and chanted slogans in his favour amid calls for “reversal of the unjust decision” against him.

They maintained that being the PTI’s founding leader in AJK, Mr Ali had sweated blood for its expansion and dominance in the political arena.

“Sardar Tabarak contested the last election on PTI ticket when it was almost obvious that the government will be formed by the PML-N. However, now when the party is destined to clinch power, depriving him of its ticket is not fair and will dent a blow to the party in Kutla,” said Chaudhry Khan Wali, one of the participants.

Referring to Mr Attique who had joined PTI in February this year, he regretted that the ticket had been given to a person who had joined the party only three months ago “in anticipation of it forming the next government.”

“This warrants personal intervention of chairman Imran Khan,” he said.

Separately, Mohammad Tahir Khokhar who had applied for a PTI ticket from LA-34, Jammu-I, a constituency of Kashmiri refugees, was also upset for not being considered for it, notwithstanding the fact “he had returned from this constituency in two consecutive elections” as a nominee of the MQM.

“The person who has been given the ticket is not only a novice but also an alien in this constituency,” he said, expressing the hope that Mr Khan would review this decision.

According to the Saturday’s list, Bashir Ahmed Khan was granted PTI ticket from LA-44, Kashmir Valley-V but in LA-42, Kashmir Valley-III, ticket was withdrawn from Mohammad Asim Sharif for unknown reasons.

The decision about the fresh candidate from the constituency had been put on hold.

In the AJK territory, where the decision on 10 seats was left pending on May 29, candidates in seven constituencies were announced in the fresh list but the decision on three seats had been withheld.

These seven candidates are: Syed Zeeshan Haider in LA 32, a constituency from where Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider will enter the fray, Anwarul Haq Noor in LA-5, Asif Hanif in LA-9, Malik Yusuf in LA 10, Nisar Ansar Abdali in LA-13, Amir Nazeer in LA-17 and Sardar Mohammad Hussain in LA-23.

Mr Noor is brother of minister for higher education Waqar Ahmed Noor. There were speculations that the ticket of Chaudhry Shahzad for LA-28 in district Muzaffarabad would also be changed, but it did not happen.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2021