By-polls: PTI finalises plan for NA-122 campaign

Sarwar says the govt might use public funds to woo voters

LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has devised a strategy to run an election campaign following the announcement of by-polls in NA-122.

PTI provincial organiser Chaudhry Sarwar chaired a meeting in this regard . PTI candidates for NA-122 and PP-147 Abdul Aleem Khan and Shoaib Siddiqui, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Punjab deputy organiser Omer Cheema and Lahore organiser Wajid Azeem attended the meeting at the Chairman’s Secretariat.



The meeting decided that senior leaders, including PTI chief Imran Khan, national organiser Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Sarwar would address election rallies. Participants of the meeting agreed to hold a door-to-door campaign in order to woo voters.

Sarwar said he believed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)  would use the public machinery to rig the elections. “PTI workers will be tasked with monitoring vote booths. This will make sure that people’s mandate is not stolen.” He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to make sure that the government did not spend public money on wooing voters.

“The Insaf Razakars helped communicate the PTI’s ideology during the 2013 general elections. The model will be replicated in the by-polls,” Sarwar said.

“Change is in the air. It is a matter of time until those who have plundered the public money are held accountable,’’ Sarwar said. He said the PTI was the only party that had fulfilled its promises made during the election campaign. “The status quo parties have done nothing for people,” he said.

Sarwar accused the government of failing to effectively take up the issue of Indian aggression along the border.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd,  2015.