ANP faces setback as ex-minister, others quit party in Swat

MINOGRA: The Awami National Party faced a setback in Swat when its senior leader and former minister Wajid Ali Khan along with dozens of workers and activists quit the party on Wednesday.

The sources said that dozens of other ANP leaders and activists were also flexing muscles to quit the party and join other political parties, most probably the Pakistan People’s Party, sooner or later over differences on award of party tickets for the upcoming elections.

Ex-minister Wajid Ali Khan told The News that he and other ex-nazims and councillors resigned from the ANP membership due to the undemocratic attitude of party provincial president Aimal Wali Khan.

He said that former candidate for the National Assembly Abdul Karim Khan, provincial working committee member Abdullah Yousafzai, ex-tehsil president Shah Khan, Riaz Khan and others had also resigned from the ANP.

It may be mentioned that differences emerged in the ANP Swat chapter after members of the party district president and former minister Ayub Asharay exchanged harsh words in a meeting held recently.

The ANP provincial president and party other leaders held several jirgas to settle the issues but that did not yield any positive results.

There were also rumours that the son of late veteran politician Afzal Khan Lala, Brig (r) Salim Khan, ANP ex-tehsil nazim Abdul Jabbar Khan, ANP central leader Khan Nawab and other leaders were flexing muscles to switch to other political parties soon.It was learnt that those quitting ANP would most probably join the PPP.