- Qureshi, Tareen, Sarwar in the race for gathering ‘electables’ for strong political base in party ahead of local bodies polls
- Recent influx of bigwigs in PTI dishearten ideological workers who are feeling alienated in this new environment
- PTI’s Haq says party’s ideological workers have nothing to worry about as they will be accommodated in upcoming polls
With the local bodies polls and intra-party elections nearing, an unannounced race has started among the top leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for gathering political heavyweights on their side in the party for making a strong group, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Those involved in the race include Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Jahangir Khan Tareen and former Punjab governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar.
“A healthy competition has started between the top three leaders but it could get ugly anytime as efforts are afoot to get politicians, such as Jamshaid Dasti, into PTI who are infamous for being outspoken and can become mouthpiece for proxy war within the party,” a senior PTI leader told Pakistan Today.
WORKERS DISHEARTENED:
“The recent influx of political heavyweights into the party has disheartened the PTI’s ideological workers who feel they are being pushed against the wall and alienated in this new environment,” a PTI leader said.
The source said that the newcomers were joining PTI not because the party’s popularity graph was on the up but owing to the internal battle going on between the party’s top leaders who are trying to impress the party chief with their performance to gain strength before party polls.
“Previously, the internal grouping within the PTI was not so evident. However, the recent developments have made cracks evident between the party’s top guns. Everyone is trying to rise above others as pushing and pulling continues,” the source added.
QURESHI’S GROUP:
The source said that Shah Mahmood Qureshi used his influence over the party chief to welcome political heavyweights into the PTI fold.
He was successful in roping in the former PPP information minister from Okara, Syed Samsam Bokhari, former Punjab minister Ashraf Sohna and PPP ticket holder Arif Khan Lashari and Malik Amir Dogar.
Later on, PML-Q MNA Khwaja Sheraz Mahmood, former Tehsil Nazim Taunsa Khwaja Allah Bakhsh, Dr Sher Ali Qureshi, the son of former PPP MNA from Muzaffargarh Mian Mohsin Qureshi, Basharat Randhawa from Layyah, former district nazim Rana Zahid Tauseef, former PML-Q federal minister Rana Asif Tauseef and many more joined PTI thanks to Qureshi’s efforts.
SARWAR’S GROUP:
Furthermore, Chaudhry Sarwar joined the party with the entire PPP Gujranwala organisation led by Chaudhry Mohammad Saeed Gujjar, former ticket holder PPP NA-96 and PPP Punjab vice president among all ticket holders of the party from the city.
Sarwar was also instrumental in getting former ministers Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain and Tariq Anees into PTI. Moreover, former advisor to Shahbaz Sharif Chaudhry Zafarullah Cheema, Sohail Zafar Cheema, Rana Mumtaz Joya, Barrister Shahid Mahmood from Kasur, Umar Aftab Dhillon from Sheikhupura and several other also joined PTI.
TAREEN’S GROUP:
Finally, the party’s brain and nucleus, Jahangir Khan Tareen also used his contacts with other politicians and PPP’s former lawmaker from Rajanpur, Sardar Dost Mohammad Mazari, Chaudhry Ali Akhtar, the brother of PML-Q Punjab general secretary Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, and many others joined the PTI.
THE LAST LAUGH:
However, another PTI leader viewed the situation differently.
“The race is on despite the fact that these three have already pushed senior PTI leaders against the wall. Imran Khan, once glued to party’s ideological workers, has now been hijacked. There is no ideology in PTI anymore. Rather, its lust for power which keeps the party leaders on their heels,” the PTI senior leader added.
Asked who would have the last laugh, the senior PTI leader said that despite being in the closed circle of Imran Khan, he believed neither Qureshi nor Tareen would be in the driving seat. Rather, it would be Sarwar or anyone else who would have the last laugh, he added.
“Imran Khan is an insecure politician and as soon as he feels politically threatened, he would sideline Qureshi and Tareen. But I suppose Sarwar would win this war as he is neither so ambitious nor he has such a strong political background in Pakistan. He could prove to be a good foot-soldier for Khan due to his strong support base in the United Kingdom where he enjoys a good image and has influence among top political and establishment circles,” the PTI leader maintained.
NAEEM-UL-HAQ SAYS PTI PREPARING FOR POLLS:
In the meanwhile, PTI Information Secretary Naeemul Haq downplayed the ongoing competition between the senior leaders of PTI.
“There is no competition or any tussle between the leaders of the party. Since Imran Khan has time and again said that the year 2015 would be an election year, what we are doing is to try and get the best eligible candidates for the upcoming electoral battle,” he told Pakistan Today.
“The idea is to strengthen the parliamentary team of the party. We think the main battleground in the next election would be in Punjab where 150 National Assembly constituencies fall,” he said.
Asked whether this new trend of bring in political heavyweights into PTI was against the philosophy of Imran Khan, Haq said that the ideological workers of PTI had nothing to fear about.
“Apart from political workers, we would also accommodate PTI’s ideological workers in the upcoming elections. The party has a number of potential candidates for every constituency. Once the local bodies and general elections arrive, we will field the best PTI team of candidates which would be a blend of old and new PTI leaders. We would never ignore the old workers as they say ‘old is gold'”.
