PTI holds workers convention in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: Hundreds of workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf thronged the first workers convention in the provincial capital on Wednesday, sending a strong message to rival political parties that the party was still a force to be reckoned with in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The party leaders claimed the PTI would sweep the next elections in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh despite the prevailing hardships.

Since the majority of PTI leaders and former parliamentarians have gone into hiding and others are facing court trials, lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat has become active and started organising the party workers by holding conventions in different cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He had recently accused some PTI leaders, including former provincial minister Mohammad Atif Khan and ex-MNA Arbab Sher Ali, of asking the party workers not to attend his conventions.

Both of them later explained their positions and tried to remove misunderstanding between them and Sher Afzal Marwat.

The party workers and activists, mostly youngsters, gave a warm welcome to Sher Afzal Marwat when he arrived in Peshawar to address the convention. Sher Afzal Marwat has become popular among the PTI workers for standing with the former prime minister Imran Khan when he was in trouble. They carried Sher Afzal Marwat on shoulders as a mark of respect and took him to the hall, where hundreds of party workers were anxiously waiting for him.

Former provincial minister and an active PTI stalwart, Taimur Saleem Jhagra gave a surprise to the police and PTI party activists when he suddenly appeared at the party convention in Peshawar.

Taimur Khan Jhagra, while speaking to the jubilant party workers, said that they could have held a big political rally, but the deputy commissioner was scared and that’s why they didn’t allow them to hold the convention in open.

“We had to organise this convention on a short notice of 24 hours. The deputy commissioner was scared and he gave us permission to hold it in a wedding hall,” Taimur Jhagra told party workers.

Taimur Jhagra announced that the PTI would hold a public rally in Peshawar on December 15 to show their strength and tell their people that the party was still a popular party of the country.

He said participation of the party workers in the party convention in such a large number was a testimony of their trust in Imran Khan and his leadership.

The former minister appreciated the party workers for standing with the party and its leadership, saying neither the PTI workers nor Imran Khan were broken. Taimur Jhagra said their party leaders were presently in jails, and appreciated them for their loyalty, saying they went through serious problems but stood with the party.

PTI central Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan and Taimur Jhagra lauded the PTI Peshawar chapter for its hard work for organising a successful workers’ convention.

Former district nazim Peshawar Mohammad Asim Khan also addressed the party workers and urged them to get united for the coming election. He said that Imran Khan had sent a message to the party workers that he would prefer to die in jail than deviate from his stance.