BAJAUR: Most of political parties have yet to launch campaign for the April 21 by-election in the district for a National Assembly seat and a provincial assembly seat.

Almost all mainstream parties including PML-N, PTI, ANP, JI and JUI-F are taking part in the by-elections to be held in NA-8 and PK-22 constituencies. However, most of the local leaders of these parties have yet to initiate their campaign for the by-election.

The holy month of Ramazan is cited as the main reason of the delay in launching of election campaign by parties. However, some insiders told this scribe that Ramazan was not the only reason of delay in launching poll drive. They said that parties and candidates were not interested in the by-elections owing to various reasons.

They said that local leaders of various political parties made several attempts to launch the campaign but they could not succeed as workers didn’t show enthusiasm about the drive. Sources said that there was a rift among workers of PTI over award of tickets for the by-election. They said that JI and ANP would launch their proper election campaigns by holding worker conventions likely on next Sunday. They said that JUI F, PPP and PML-N were likely to launch their election campaigns after Edul Fitr.

FIRING: Two people were injured when unidentified armed men opened firing on them in Galoo Shah area here on Wednesday night, police said.

One of the injured persons was identified as Irshad Sahil. The injured were taken to district headquarters hospital in Khar. The attackers managed to escape after committing the crime.

A police official said on Thursday that they launched investigation into the incident. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Police said that both the wounded were friends.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024