Gandapur’s arrest warrant issued for violating AJK election rules in 2021

MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu & Kashmir Election Commission has issued an arrest warrant for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Amin Gandapur for his alleged violation of the code of conduct during the 2021 elections.

A letter regarding the arrest of Gandapur — Imran Khan’s nominee for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s slot — has been despatched by the electoral body to the Dera Ismail Khan deputy commissioner.

In the letter, the PTI leader, who was a federal minister then, has been directed to appear before the AJK Election Commission on February 28. The petition against Gandapur was filed by lawyer Raja Zulqarnain during the 2021 election.

The firebrand PTI leader was banned from participating and addressing rallies in election-related events in AJK.

The action was taken after the commission came to know that Gandapur had made unpleasant comments in his speeches at different public meetings in AJK, apart from announcing deve­­lopment packages worth billions of rupees.

According to the AJK Election Commission, the decision was taken also because the acts of the minister were not only creating law and order problems but had also triggered fears of loss of human lives.

In the February 8 general elections, Ali Amin Gandapur won on NA-44, Dera Ismail Khan-I, and PK-113.

On February 13, Imran Khan nominated Gandapur as his party’s candidate for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister. The PTI clean swept the KP with 84 seats in the elections.

“KP’s chief minister will be Ali Amin Gandapur,” said the former prime minister while speaking to journalists in Adiala jail, where he is currently incarcerated in a number of cases.