NA-56 asks ‘Where is Khan?’
Less than two months after the general elections, the walls of NA-56 are beginning to show disappointment with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan. Khan who won the MNA seat from this constituency in Rawalpindi on promises of change, has apparently left the people of the area in a lurch, forcing them to wall-chalk ‘Where is Khan?’ and ‘Whom will you approach?’.
The PTI chief, who won the seat after defeating PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi on May 11, has not returned to the area for thanking the voters except once while visiting the house of a PTI supporter who was shot dead on the election day.
The PTI chairman secured more than 80,000 votes against 67,000 of Abbasi.
During the election campaign, Hanif Abbasi had frequently warned the people of the area to not make the blunder of voting for Khan. He used to argue that the PTI chief would never spare time from his luxurious villa in Bani Gala to visit the narrow streets of Rawalpindi for hearing about the day-to-day problems of the residents.
Many people have complained about how difficult it was to approach Imran Khan.
“In this area, people are faced with day-to-day problems like approval of building maps, timely lifting of garbage from outside their houses and shortage of drinking water. I think Imran Khan is too big a politician for these small problems,” said Zahoor Anwer, a resident of Satellite Town’s B. Block, who had also voted for the PTI chief.
Javed Khan, 44, a rickshaw driver, had long been fascinated by Imran Khan’s speeches during which he would frequently mention the woes of taxi and rickshaw drivers. But the rickshaw driver lost all the hopes the day he tried to visit Bani Gala along with his five friends to meet Imran Khan. He and his friends were denied access to the residence of the PTI chief and turned away from the gate by a dozen security guards.
A wall-chalking reminds voters in NA-56 about the missing Imran Khan which is indeed an embarrassing situation for the PTI workers. However, Rana Sohail, a local PTI leader, told local media that his party had set up a complaint office at Sixth Road where the residents can file their problems. He added that the PTI workers can deal with the local issues without involving the party head. “Imran Khan will soon also visit the area and listen to the complaints of the residents.” The PTI local leader said that the wall-chalkings were merely PML-N propaganda against their leader. - See more at:
NA-56 asks