Party ticket fiasco: Enraged PTI workers continue protest in Bani Gala on second day
Party workers from PK-87 Bannu, PP-3 and PP-100 Jaranwala reached Bani Gala and staged a demonstration
June 10, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Enraged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers continued on Sunday their protest over differences regarding issuing of tickets for the upcoming general election for the second consecutive day.
The party workers from PK-87 Bannu, PP-3 and PP-100 Jaranwala reached Bani Gala and staged a demonstration.
The protested, which started on Saturday, had continued overnight. Dozens of workers had gathered in Bani Gala and alleged that the party did not issue tickets on the basis of merit. They also reject the issuance of the ticket to Ghulam Sarwar Khan from NA-59.
They also demanded that Ajmal Raja is fielded from the Rawalpindi constituency.
‘Not possible to allot tickets to everyone’
While speaking to media in Lahore, PTI leader Shafqat Mahmood remarked that it is not possible to allot party tickets to everyone.
“More than 1,000 candidates have applied for party tickets,” he said, adding that the tickets will be given on the basis of merit.
“PTI members will work as per the vision of Imran Khan,” he asserted.
On the other hand, PTI Spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry had claimed that the party has issued tickets to "strong candidates".
Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had decided to form reconciliation committees to redress the grievances of the workers who were denied party tickets.
The decision was made in a meeting chaired by party chief Imran Khan.
According to a party statement, PTI will allot tickets to better and stronger candidates in the next phase.
PTI worker shares his grievances
Sharing his grievances, Khan Bahadur Dogar, who belongs to Faisalabad division of PTI, remarked that he paid for the food of dharna participants in 2014.
“I paid for breakfast, lunch and dinner of the protesters from my own pocket for 126 days,” he remarked while addressing a press conference on Saturday. “Along with PTI workers, I also paid for food of workers of Pakistan Awami Tehreek,” he added. “Still, I wasn’t given a party ticket.”
PTI ticket holders
As per the list issued, PTI chairman Imran Khan will be contesting for five seats: NA-35 Bannu, NA-53 Islamabad-II, NA-95 Mianwali-I, NA-131 Lahore-IX and NA-243 Karachi.
Imran will not be contesting the election from Rawalpindi this time. Ghulam Sarwar Khan will contest the election from two Rawalpindi constituencies: NA-59 and NA-63.
PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be contesting from NA-156 Multan, while party spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry will be contesting from NA-67 Jhelum.
In Karachi, Arif Alvi and Ali Zaidi will be contesting the polls from NA-247 and NA-244 respectively. Saifur Rehman will be the PTI candidate in NA-242 Karachi.
PTI leader Asad Umar will contest the polls from NA-54 Islamabad. PTI will field Aleem Khan in NA-129 Lahore and Abrarul Haq in NA-78 Narowal.
