Charsadda: Rickshaw driver to contest on MQM ticket

SHABQADAR:

As political parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA are awarding party tickets to well-off people, feudal lords and industrialists, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has fielded candidates from a humble background, says a party candidate from the region.

Farhad Khan – an auto-rickshaw driver in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda – has been awarded an MQM ticket to run for PK-22. He has submitted his nomination papers to the returning officer. “I used to drive a cab in Karachi where I was inspired by the MQM’s middle-class leadership and joined it,” he added.

Khan said the MQM has also awarded a party ticket to Liaqat Ali, a daily wager at a bakery, to contest NA-8 (Charsadda-II) against Qaumi Watan Party chief Aftab Ahmad Sherpao.

Ali said his party is contesting the election despite threats in Charsadda and other parts of K-P. “The MQM has a strong vote-bank in Karachi – it’s unknown among people here,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2013.