Three PTI activists vie for PK-75 Peshawar ticket

PESHAWAR: With lawmaker Arif Yousaf unlikely to get the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ticket for contesting the coming general election after being accused by the party leadership of selling his vote in the Senate election, the competition for getting the PTI ticket for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituency PK-75 has become wide open.

The constituency, which includes parts of Peshawar Cantonment and Gulberg, etc, was previously known as PK-4 Peshawar. It is now called PK-75 Peshawar and is considered a prestigious constituency because the voters are mostly educated and live in relatively developed housing areas.

Arif Yousaf, an almost unknown lawyer and businessman, had won the seat in the 2013 general election, as the PTI candidate. Among the losers was former provincial minister Syed Aqil Shah, who belongs to the Awami National Party (ANP). Aqil Shah has again been given the party ticket for the election to be likely held in July.

As Arif Yousaf was one of the 20 PTI lawmakers who were issued show-cause notice by the party after Imran Khan publicly accused them of selling their votes in the Senate polls, he stands no chance of getting the party ticket again. This has opened the door to at least three PTI activists Haroon Durrani, Arbab Nisar and Atif Haleem Jan. They all stand a chance of securing the ticket, which will be given on the recommendation of the local PTI unit and keeping in view other factors, including the electability of the candidate.

Atif Haleem Jan is the son of the late traders' leader Haji Haleem Jan, who was martyred in his shop by a gunman in Qissa Khwani bazaar. Haji Haleem Jan had refused to pay extortion money and this is said to be the reason he was target-killed.