Gandapur woos dissidents to avoid PTI-vs-PTI fight in Senate polls today

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur succeeded in convincing four dissident party members to withdraw from the Senate contest in early hours of Monday (today), salvaging a “PTI-vs-PTi” situation in the election for the Upper House.

The CM held extensive talks with the disgruntled leaders, which went on past midnight. After Waqas Orakzai PTI’s senior and ideological member Irshad Hussain, Irfan Saleem and Ayesha Bano announced withdrawal from the Senate elections. Irshad submitted a letter to the Election Commission, requesting the withdrawal of his nomination papers. Irshad Hussain stated that this decision was made in line with the directives of Imran Khan and the party leadership.

Earlier, a PTI leader told The News that this is the first time the party is facing its own disgruntled members.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Opposition Leader Dr Ibad held a two-hour-long meeting, during which they agreed to proceed according to the agreement. Under this agreement, the six-five formula will be implemented. Opposition Leader Dr Ibad said that they would easily secure their five seats and there would be no problem in this regard. He added that PTI’s disgruntled members would not be able to harm the opposition. He said that Chief Minister Ali Amin had already devised his strategy and there is no chance of any upset.

According to parliamentary sources, seven panels are being formed today for the general seats. Among these, one panel will be unique as it will consist of members from both the government and the opposition. This panel will support PPP candidate Senator Talha Mahmood. Currently, Talha Mahmood has only 15 votes from the opposition, but with the government providing five additional votes, his success can be ensured.

The government needs 76 votes to elect its four senators. After achieving this, it will have around 16 votes remaining. Sources say that five of these votes will be given to Talha Mahmood, which could become the biggest turning point of this election.

Sources revealed that out of the seven panels, four are for government candidates and two for the opposition, but Talha Mahmood’s panel will be the only one formed with the joint cooperation of both government and opposition members. It has also been revealed that members whose loyalty is in doubt will not be included in Mirza Afridi’s panel. Those opposing Ali Amin Gandapur will be placed in the panel of PTI’s ideological leader Murad Saeed to prevent them from voting for any other candidate.