NOWSHERA: Adnan Khan, the son-in-law of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Mondayannounced not to contest the Senate elections and withdraw his nomination papers. Adnan Khan announced pulling out of the race after holding meetings with the chief minister in Manki Sharif in Nowshera and Islamabad.Adnan Khan told The News that he had decided to contest the Senate elections on the insistence of his close friends and supporters. He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the religio-political parties were supporting his candidature for the Senate polls.Adnan Khan said speculations in the media linking his nomination with the chief minister forced him to quit the contest. “The media tried to create misunderstanding and making my candidature controversial,” he complained.“I had to swallow a bitter pill and withdraw from the Senate polls so as not to provide an opportunity to anyone to point finger at the chief minister and earn bad name for my father-in-law,” he added. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan should take measures to prevent horse-trading in the Senate elections.Chief Minister Pervez Khattak told The News that Adnan Khan had won seat in the previous Senate polls on the PPP ticket and was still its worker. “But I persuaded him to withdraw his nomination papers to block the way for horse-trading in the election and avoid media trial,” he added. He said he has intensified efforts and was in constant contact with the leadership of the opposition parties in the provincial assembly to field joint candidates in the Senate elections to end possibility of horse-trading. He was optimistic that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its coalition partners would win seven seats in the Senate elections.“I am hopeful that we will win seven seats comfortably. We are trying to persuade the opposition parties and are willing to give them five seats in the Senate elections,” the chief minister argued. He said the government was striving hard to prevent horse-trading and complete the legal process with consensus so that nobody questioned the credibility of the process.About his son-in-law Adnan Khan’s decision to file nomination papers for contesting Senate elections, he said his family was in politics since long and had a history of contesting the elections. Sources told this correspondent that the PTI had earlier expressed willingness to give one seat each to the opposition parties represented in provincial assembly if they agreed to field consensus candidates in the Senate election. They said the matter was delayed and the proposal derailed after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl demanded two Senate seats each. The sources added that the PTI rejected the PML-N and JUI-F demand.
