Differences in Mardan PTI persist

PESHAWAR: Even though the struggle to contain coronavirus needs unity, particularly in the ruling party, the differences among Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers were visible when Chief Minister Mahmood Khan visited Mardan on April 7 to take stock of the situation in the district most affected by the Covid-19 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Former senior minister Mohammad Atif Khan and MPAs Zahir Shah Toru, TufailAnjum and SajidaHanif were conspicuous by their absence during the events that the chief minister attended in Mardan. They reportedly weren’t invited to any of these events. One of the MPAs said they were expecting an invitation but it didn’t arrive. These four lawmakers from Mardan are seen to be in the anti-Mahmood Khan group in the PTI. However, the PK-49 Mardan MPA TufailAnjum said he was on good terms with all, including those considered close to the chief minister. It was the chief minister’s first visit to Mardan after the formation of the PTI government in the province following the July 2018 general election. Though he had come specifically to review the coronavirus situation in Mardan, opposition members and some media persons in Mardan criticized him for not announcing any ‘special development package’ for the district. However, Mahmood Khan’s supporters argued this wasn’t the time to expect the chief minister to allocate special funds for a district when the priority is to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Atif Khan, along with provincial ministers Shahram Khan Tarakai and Shakil Ahmad, were summarily removed from the cabinet on disciplinary grounds in late January when Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also chairman of the PTI, sided with Mahmood Khan in the tussle between the two groups. Though Atif Khan and ShahramTarakai were later invited by the prime minister for a meeting to listen to their version, the issue is still unresolved and it isn’t known if and when the sacked ministers would be reinstated. With strong support from Imran Khan, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan is taking his time to decide the return of the axed ministers. The other four PTI MPAs from Mardan including IftikharMashwani, Amir Farzand, Abdul Salam Afridi and Malik Shaukatstood by the chief minister and are in his good books. The differences in the PTI in Mardan, the second biggest district in KP after Peshawar, were also evident during a recent teleconference that was hosted by the party’s lawmaker Zahir Shah Toru and organized and chaired by Atif Khan. Though Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan, KP Health Minister TaimurSaleemJhagra and Mardan MNA Mujahid Khan, all belonging to the PTI, attended the teleconference, the four party MPAs opposed to Atif Khan didn’t attend the event. The PTI is clearly divided into two camps in Mardan, causing pain to party activists. They want the PTI leadership to take steps to resolve the differences as inaction was widening the gulf between the two sides. Though sources close to Atif Khan said he has met the prime minister again, the latter obviously has to focus first on containing the coronavirus pandemic and reviving Pakistan’sbattered economy and saving livelihoods.