Of Rawalpindi Cantonment polls

Islamabad
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), which bagged over 68,000 votes from Rawalpindi cantonment area in the 2013 general election, could only get half of these votes from the same area in the local bodies election. The party sources blame it on the indifferent attitude of the party leadership towards the elected representatives of PTI from Rawalpindi Cantonment and the infighting in the party between elected representatives and those imposed on the workers by the party.
A well-placed source in PTI told The News that the party was strong on 14 of the 20 local bodies seats of Rawalpindi Cantt area, which it has gifted to PML-N mainly because of award of party tickets to weak candidates, sidelining of genuine party workers and handing over the party affairs to people who are not liked by the party workers.
The party sources said that when selected people are given preference over elected representatives then a stronghold like Rawalpindi also falls flat for PTI.
During the 2013 general election, Hina Manzoor of PTI obtained 68000 votes from Rawalpindi Cantt but during the 2014 dharna when Imran Khan’s cousin had a fight with PTI leadership of Rawalpindi, the local leadership of PTI was suspended and an inquiry was launched against them. PTI North Punjab President, Sadaqat Abbasi who also happens to be a professor and author of many books, Hina Manzoor, an honourable lady, and elected members of Parliament were suspended. The party workers expressed their anger in the form of abstaining from voting in the local bodies election in Rawalpindi Cantt, the sources maintained.
Both Sadaqat Abbasi and Hina Manzoor resigned after being dismayed over the party’s attitude. Hina Manzoor, who lost the NA-54 election by a narrow margin, even resigned from the basic membership of the party while protesting party leadership’s indifferent attitude towards the elected officer-bearers. During dharna the spokesperson of PTI was asked by The News about the issue and about Imran Khan’s family interference in the party affairs and the spokesperson had replied: “Not true. They were suspended after watching video footage of their violence. Imran Khan’s family members have no say in party matters at all.”
While evaluating the PTI’s performance in local bodies election in Rawalpindi, the PTI sources said that the whole lot of workers rejected the ‘selected’ people whom the party had given unprecedented powers.
The sources said that dispute also arose on distribution of tickets in five wards of Rawalpindi Cantt where weak candidates were given preference over strong people. But when the party workers did not participate in the election process the party could not win any seat from Rawalpindi Cantt, a party leader said.
A meeting of party workers was held in Siham Rawalpindi and local leaders of PTI Ch Riaz, Ch Waqas, Asif Bhatti, Saqib Ch and others demanded an inquiry into the awarding party tickets to weak candidates, says a press release. The press release adds that a few PTI leaders hatched a conspiracy by to defeat the party in Rawalpindi Cantt, a stronghold of PTI.
Ishaq Khakwani, a senior leader of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf when asked to comment on PTI’s dismal performance said that the internal rifts in PTI in Rawalpindi caused a huge loss to the party on national level otherwise PTI might have been number one all over Pakistan had it fought a better election in Rawalpindi. He said that the lack of internal cohesion in Rawalpindi provided a smooth run to PML-N. He said the dynamics of local bodies election is totally different from national elections and people choose a person whom they know well, who is their neighbour, who has strong community and is known among the local public for his standing”, said Khakwani adding: “In Rawalpindi the PTI workers who were not happy with the party have learnt that it is the unity that pays back otherwise the opponents win”. He said that not only PTI’s vote bank has fallen but the vote bank of PML-N has also shrunk and independent candidates have won because people not only rejected PTI but also the PML-N. He said had there been no internal rifts in PTI in Rawalpindi the results would have been different.
Ijaz Khan Jazi, senior leader of PTI and president PTI Rawalpindi District who headed the PTI’s campaign in Rawalpindi Cantt for local bodies election, told The News that tickets were awarded after consultation with party’s president from Rawalpindi Cantt and two members of Parliament. He said that in fact the holding of Cantonment board election at a time when the Judicial Commission has not finalised its report damaged the party’s campaign because people were disheartened that their mandate was stolen in 2013. He alleged that the PML-N did rig the Cantonment board election to hide the rigging done in 2013 election. Jazi admitted some rifts among the party workers but claimed in overall campaign the workers remained enthusiastic and committed to the task. He said the people also did not come out to vote because they knew that local bodies election was not for the change. The PTI leader said that the likes of Sadaqat Abbasi and Hina Manzoor did not have any effect on the general supporters of the party because the party received 126 applications for party tickets from Rawalpindi. “Actually in Rawalpindi Cantt, there is a huge area which comprises of villages where thana-patwari culture is dominant and PML-N exploited this situation”, Jazi held. He added that the candidates got only 14 days to campaign and in every ward, PTI won on many polling stations but there were one or two such police stations in Rawalpindi Cantt where the lead of PML-N exceeded the overall lead of PTI, which is surprising. He said that in ward number 3, an independent candidate applied for election symbol of zebra, but the Election Commission denied him, as it resembled loin. He claimed that the ECP did not allot this symbol despite High court’s order and now a contempt of court petition is pending in the high court against the ECP, which clearly shows whom the ECP was supporting.