Probe sought into defeat of PTI candidates in Khyber

BARA: Members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday called upon the provincial leadership to probe the defeat of the party candidates in the July 20 election for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the Khyber tribal district.

Addressing a press conference here at Bara Press Club, Abid Khan, Daulat Khan Afridi, Muhammad Zeb Afridi, Hayat Khan and others said the party candidates were defeated even though the party was in power in the province and at the centre. They held the Member National Assembly (MNA) Iqbal Afridi responsible for the failure of the candidates by creating hurdles for them during electioneering.

They alleged that one of his aides tried to mobilise the voters on social media by asking them to vote for the independent candidate (Hamid Khan) in PK-106 instead of the party candidate Amir Muhammad Khan Afridi.

“Wherever we went during the campaign for seeking votes for the party candidate, the MNA’s men used to chase us and asked the people not to vote for the party candidate. They indulged in character assassination of the party candidates and the workers who were campaigning,” Abid Khan Afridi alleged. The PTI members alleged the MNA reportedly stopped his nephew (Hamid Afridi) from withdrawing his candidature in favour of the party candidate Amir Muhammad Khan, terming it a clear-cut violation of the party’s manifesto.

They alleged the lawmaker’s men created hurdles for those workers who had supported him in the 2018 general election while this time they embraced those workers who had opposed them in the last election.

The PTI members alleged that they were stopped from running a campaign in Akakhel and Qambarkhel units. “We ask the party high command to take to task MNA Iqbal Afridi and his men as they are responsible for the defeat of the party candidates in the election,” Daud Khan Afridi said. The PTI members demanded an inquiry into the defeat of the PTI candidates on PK-106 and PK-107 and sought stern action against the so-called party workers who supported independent candidates. They asked to probe the embezzlement in funds collected for the construction of Bara dam on the call of the prime minister. The PTI members also demanded action against the so-called party organisation and committee constituted for the local government elections.