Ahead of local body polls, rift emerges in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on party tickets

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 23 : Ahead of local bodies' elections, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is facing an intraparty rift due to severe differences between the workers for the tickets at the village and neighbourhood council level despite efforts to remove them.
This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI asked its district presidents across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province (K-P) to allocate party tickets to candidates for local bodies' elections in their respective districts, The Express Tribune reported.
Due to the ongoing dispute, the party has decided not to issue party tickets in those village and neighbourhood councils where severe disputes between the party workers have emerged.
"The number of candidates is so large that the party cannot handle them as no one is willing to step aside and provide others the opportunity so the party leadership has been in a permanent fix these days," said an official of PTI. The official informed that those party workers who were denied PTI tickets had decided to go for it as independent candidates and divide the party.
"Workers have been directed to contact their district presidents for tickets and consultations instead of approaching party high-ups on provincial level" he was quoted as saying by Express Tribune.
The report further said that local government elections are not an easy one for PTI and other parties as workers demanded tehsil nazim tickets and district leadership wanted to give tickets to their own candidates.
"There are widespread disputes in every party but since the PTI is ruling party and everyone expects it to win the elections so its workers are trying to get the tickets at all levels," said another party leader.