TAXILA, Oct 1: The supporters of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI)’s Taxila chapter are upset over differences between two rival groups within the party ranks.
Since the joining of stalwarts and activists from other parties, a tug of war has been going on within the ranks of the party as the old timers feel insecure about their political future.
They are not sure whether they will get party tickets in the presence of the influential and experienced politicians who already have their own strong vote banks. At present, two groups have emerged on the political scene: one led by former federal minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan and the other by the in-charge of PTI’s central election campaign, Masoor Siddiqui.
Sources in the PTI said the situation worsened when the two groups hurled allegations and engaged in a clash during a rally taken our by one of them on the occasion of “Love for the Prophet day.”
Gulam Srawar Khan, who was the vice-president of the PML-Q, along with his two brothers, including MPA Shafeeq Khan and former tehsil nazim Sadeeq Khan, joined the PTI after the party held the historic public meeting in Lahore.
However, the group led by Mansoor Siddiqui and Khawja Imtiaz Advocate did not welcome them.
This group termed the newcomers as turncoats and said they should be kept in the second-line leadership.
The group also showed its influence by calling president of the PTI’s women wing Fauzia Qasuri to a party meeting where she declared that party tickets would be given on “merit”.
On the other hand, the second group led by the former minister has failed to show its mettle by calling the party top brass to their meeting.
Meanwhile, the Khan group has also not arranged any public meeting but claimed that it would hold one in April.
Interestingly, leaders of both the rival groups did not attend meetings called on different occasions and brought out separate rallies in Rawalpindi a few months back.
Political observers believed that the sorry state of affair in the PTI’s Taxila chapter would prove beneficial for the PML-N), the main opponent of the PTI in this constituency, as party stalwart and leader of the opposition in National assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has already launched his unannounced election campaain by mobilising the party voters on a regular basis.
Recently, he also announced multi-million development package for every union council and cantonment areas, giving an edge to the popularity of the PML-N among the masses.