Disgruntled with division of tickets, Tareen leaves for UK

• Layyah’s ‘strong group’ quit PTI despite being given four party tickets

LONDON: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf disqualified secretary general Jahangir Tareen left for London along with his family after he was disgruntled with the division of tickets among party members in southern Punjab to contest the general election, likely to be held on July 25, 2018.

A private TV channel reported that the tickets were taken back from the ‘electables,’ recommended by Tareen who told the channel that the decision to award tickets to Niazi group was a bad one. About the reason to leave right ahead of the election, he said that he went to London on account of being unwell.

Tareen said that if doctors allowed him then he would return to the country on Sunday. On the subject of the party tickets, PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry claimed that neither Tareen nor Shah Mehmood Qureshi were involved in giving party ticket to the group. PTI Chairman Imran Khan himself decides about the distribution of the tickets, he said.

Fawad said that the party’s position was strong in southern Punjab. Earlier, a strong group from Layyah quit the PTI, despite being given four party tickets. After the group’s sudden departure, the tickets were given to Majeed Niazi group. The ‘Sehur’ group was brought to the party fold by Tareen while Niazi group has Qureshi’s support.

LAYYAH SETBACK:

PTI suffered a major setback in Layyah district where an influential group reportedly quit the party despite being awarded tickets for the 2018 general elections.

Sehar group was awarded one ticket for the National Assembly and three for provincial assembly seats by the PTI.

Following Sehar group’s parting of ways, the party allotted these tickets to Majeed Niazi group.

Those who quit the party included PTI candidate from PP-281 Shahabuddin Sehar, Sajjad Khan Sehar from PP-282 and Sardar Bahadur Sehar from NA-187.

According to reports, Sehar group was brought into the party fold by Jahangir Tareen, while Niazi group has the backing from Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

On the other hand, PTI district president Basharat Randhawa announced quitting the party after being denied tickets for contesting the forthcoming election.

Randhawa said that he would contest the polls as an independent candidate.