PTI ticket-aspirants from Kharian want ‘guarantees’ from party chief: report

GUJRAT: Rehman Naseer Marala from Kharian, who called on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in Islamabad has denied joining the party and said that he had only discussed the possibility of his group joining the party with Imran Khan, according to a report by a private media outlet.

The possible joining of Marala may result in a revolt within the PTI ranks since the party’s district head Chaudhary Muhammad Ilyas has also been a candidate from the NA-71. Mr Ilyas was runner-up in the constituency, securing some 60,000 votes as a PTI nominee.

Moreover, the local PTI sources said Marala’s first cousin Tashfeen Safdar Marala had already joined the PTI in 2011 and was an aspirant of the party ticket from NA-71. They said she had some political differences with her cousin Rehman Naseer.

A local PTI leader told the private media outlet that Naeem Raza Kotla, and his brother Shahid Raza Kotla, a former nazim of Kotla union council, may also join the PTI along with Rehman Naseer Marala since the Kotlas are main allies in Marala’s local group.

However, he said both Marala and the Kotlas wanted an assurance with regard to the PTI ticket prior to joining the party.

Both Naeem and Shahid Kotla are brothers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers MNA Abid Raza, MPA Shabeer Ahmed and district council chairman Chaudhary Tanveer Kotla. However, the brothers are in different political groups since MPA Shabeer Kotla of the PML-N and Naeem Raza of PML-Q had contested the last general elections against each other from PP-115 (Kharian-Kotla).