MULTAN City News

Islamabad Dharna: thin participation

of workers expected from Multan

From Nadeem Shah

MULTAN: Though the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf has emerged as the second largest political party after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, but a poor participation of workers is expected from the district in Islamabad Dharna scheduled for November 2, The News learnt here.

The PTI office-bearers on the condition of anonymity claimed: “The participation of workers from the district will be in hundreds as the party MNAs, MPAs and ticket holders are avoiding bearing transport expenditures.” They said that the party workers had no capacity to hire a bus.

PTI Multan city general secretary Nadeem Qureshi rejected the claim and said that the party workers had already started leaving the district for Islamabad at individual level through different means of transport to avoid their arrest. He said that the party workers from Multan would join the November 2 protest in Islamabad at any cost. He condemned the crackdown on the PTI workers. He was optimistic of dissolution of the PML-N government in result of the Islamabad PTI Dharna.

PTI south Punjab former joint secretary Farrukh Sheikh alleged that the Punjab government had placed big containers on Khanewal Road to prevent movement of buses and cars. He said that the PTI workers from south Punjab would reach Islamabad at any cost.

PTI activist Khalid Qureshi did not mention the exact number of workers, which would participate in the Islamabad sit-in, but he was of the view the number would be in thousands.

Former MNA of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sheikh Tariq Rashid said that the PTI agenda had failed to attract its own party workers. He claimed that the PTI workers were not interested in participating in the Islamabad sit-in. He rejected the blame that government was creating hurdles to prevent the PTI caravans from going to Islamabad. Sheikh Tariq further claimed that the government had given a free hand to the PTI for staging a sit-in in Islamabad. He said that the PTI had lost its mandate. He said that the people of Pakistan had given Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a mandate to rule the country till 2018. The PML-N government would complete its tenure with the support of the people, he added.

Sheikh Tariq said that the government did not stop private bus companies from renting their buses to the PTI. He said that the PTI was propagating against the government.