Ex-MPA to contest on ANP ticket in by-elections

MANSEHRA: Former Member Provincial Assembly from Torghar, Laiq Mohammad Khan, said on Monday that he would contest the by-elections from his constituency on the Awami National Party’s ticket.

“My party considered my performance and awarded me a ticket again; I would continue to serve the people of Torghar with sincerity,” he said while speaking at a jirga attended by the elders of five major tribes in Darband.

Laiq, who is a younger brother of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Senator Azam Khan Swati, told the jirga that the ANP had given Torghar the status of a settled district in 2011 and also earmarked a Rs5 billion development package for it.

“The successive governments kept this erstwhile tribal belt in the dark but I tried my level best to develop it by initiating several development schemes,” he said.He said that he had recently inaugurated a bridge over the Indus River with Rs10 billion cost, which would bring about major economic changes in the lives of locals and shrink the distance between Peshawar and the rest of the province.

He lauded the jirga system that prevailed for centuries in the erstwhile tribal belt, saying Torghar was one of the peaceful districts across the province. “The crime rate here in the district is almost zero as the jirga system is effective and extends cooperation to the police and other departments,” he said.