‘Loyalists’ vs ‘electables’: Candidates prep for Punjab president elections

PTI’s Ahsan Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry to battle it out in December poll.

LAHORE:

Two candidates with contrasting styles representing two different strands within the party are set to battle it out for the slot of Punjab president at Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) elections scheduled in December.

Ahsan Rasheed has formally launched his campaign and his allies are approaching party members to seek their vote. Meanwhile, Ejaz Chaudhry has been meeting with close aides to discuss his campaign, party sources said.

Rasheed was a founding member of the PTI and has previously served as Punjab president of the party, though by appointment and not by election. He had no previous experience in politics, but is very close to party chief Imran Khan, the party sources said. His strong loyalty to Khan means he has the support of party workers similarly in thrall to the top leadership, they said. He also has the support of Mian Azhar, a heavyweight politician from Lahore who has been with the party for two years.

Chaudhry, meanwhile, was an active member of a religious political party before joining the PTI in 2007. The party sources said that he had the backing of Javed Hashmi, a former colleague of his in the Jamaat-i-Islami and the PML-Nawaz stalwart who caused a stir by defecting to the Tehreek-i-Insaf last year. Chaudhry had been responsible for the handsome welcome afforded to Hashmi upon his first visit to Lahore after joining the PTI.

Both candidates are Arain. The sources said that caste did not have as much of a role in elections as in other parties. They said that the main difference between them was how they would act in office. They said that Rasheed, as a strong Khan-loyalist, would show no dissent to his leader and do as he is told. Chaudhry, they said, was more independent.

The PTI sources said that Rasheed’s main asset were his strong social skills that made him popular among party workers. They said that Chaudhry had greater political vision and experience. They said that the PTI Punjab president slot was one of the most important in the party.

Asked if he would stand in the party election, Chaudhry said that if he was asked to do so by friends and workers, “it would be an honour”. He denied that he had the backing of Hashmi.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2012.