PTI kicks off election campaign in Karachi
Pakistan
PTI kicks off election campaign in Karachi
KARACHI (Web Desk) – A day after losing ‘bat’ as electoral symbol, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched its campaign for the upcoming polls with a rally led by central leader Sher Afzal Marwat at Karachi's Sea View beach on Sunday.
Marwat led the party's first election rally at Sea View with a significant number of participants. The rally was announced by PTI leader Raja Azhar, who mentioned that the party chose Sea View, a popular picnic spot in Karachi, to kick off its campaign.
However, Azhar complained about police barricades on the roads leading to the venue. Subsequently, the traffic police clarified that the main track along Sea View beach was temporarily blocked due to the political rally but was soon restored.
The party faced a setback on Saturday when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), leading to the loss of its electoral symbol 'bat.'
Following the Supreme Court's decision, the deadline for the allotment of electoral symbols to political parties expired. The ECP assigned different symbols to PTI candidates, who will now participate as independent contenders in the Feb 8 elections.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the now-former chairman, stated that all PTI candidates would participate independently, and the party would release a list of candidates with their new election symbols.
Expressing disappointment over the Supreme Court's decision, Gohar declared the party's intention to challenge the verdict. The absence of a unified symbol poses a challenge for the PTI, as voters typically associate a symbol with a party and its candidates, he added.
Some prominent PTI leaders, contesting elections with different symbols, include Yasmin Rashid from NA-130 with the symbol ‘laptop,’ Salman Akram Raja on NA-128 with ‘racquet,’ Latif Khosa with the English letter ‘K’ for NA-122, and Mian Azhar with ‘wicket’ for NA-129 in Lahore.
