Intra-party rifts: Mansehra PTI office-bearers take oath in Abbottabad

MANSEHRA: Rifts in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) compelled the newly-elected district office-bearers to hold their oath-taking ceremony in Abbottabad instead of their native Mansehra.

“There exist wide differences between Federal Minister Azam Khan Swati and local party MPA Babar Saleem Swati. It compelled the newly-selected district body to avoid workers’ wrath and hold its oath-taking ceremony in Abbottabad,” Dr Zaheer Khan, the former senior vice-president of PTI, told reporters here on Thursday.

The newly-elected district president and former opposition leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Shahzada Gustasap Khan had earlier announced to hold the oath-taking ceremony in Mansehra. He suddenly changed his mind and shifted the ceremony’s venue to Abbottabad.

Dr Zaheer Khan said that though the newly-selected body held the ceremony in Abbottabad to avoid workers’ wrath, even then the workers created mayhem and shouted slogans in support of Babar Saleem Swati. He added that they were calmed down by the divisional president and general secretary of the party.

He said that Azam Khan Swati had developed differences with Babar Saleem Swati when the KP Chief Minister wanted to induct the latter in the cabinet last year but the former opposed it to settle his previous personal vendetta with Babar Saleem Swati.

Dr Zaheer Khan said the party workers were opposed to the “anti-party” policies of Azam Khan Swati and had not accepted the new district body.