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As the fate of its long-held electoral symbol of ‘bat’ hung on a hearing in the Supreme Court, the embattled PTI on Saturday turned to ‘batsman’ by executing its “plan B” and instructing its election candidates to submit their PTI-Nazriati tickets to their respective Returning Officers.
In a post on X, PTI’s official account said: “Whoever has PTI-Nazriati tickets should immediately submit them and take any kind of hindrance to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and high courts.”
The party issued the directives while the Supreme Court heard ECP’s petition challenging the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision to restore the PTI’s electoral symbol, the “bat”.
Earlier, after sensing the danger of losing its iconic symbol, the party had chalked out its plan B: allying with its splinter PTI-Nazriati group to use the ‘batsman’ symbol for its candidates, Dawn learnt on Friday.
Sources privy to the developments had said that an accord had been reached between the two parties after negotiations.
“After the ECP went to the Supreme Court against the decision of the PHC, the party’s leadership mulled over the option for an alternative electoral symbol,” a source in the PTI told Dawn. “The need was aggravated after remarks passed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa during a hearing on Friday.”
PTI officials believe that the “bat” and “batsman” symbols are similar, making it easier for voters to identify with PTI, the source had explained.
“The chairman of PTI-Nazriati, Akhtar Iqbal Dar, had agreed to issue tickets to PTI’s candidates on the symbol of batsman,” another source had said.
The PTI leadership had taken the decision to woo the Nazriati group, considering the possibility that the ECP would grant separate symbols to each party candidate, which would confuse voters.
“If the bat is denied, the PTI could inculcate easily in the voters’ minds to stamp on the batsman,” the source had said.
Interestingly, the PTI initially never wanted the “batsman” symbol allocated to its splinter group. It had urged the ECP in June 2022 not to allot the symbol to PTI-Nazriati, arguing that it would create confusion among the voters. However, the ECP did not entertain PTI’s request.
The sources could not confirm the conditions under which PTI-Nazriati agreed to issue its tickets to PTI’s candidates.
When contacted, a PTI-Nazriati official, who answered the call on the cell number of party chairman Akhtar Iqbal Dar, had refused to comment. “We cannot comment on this issue right now,” he had said.
A spokesman for the PTI said the party was ready to accommodate some of the PTI-Nazriati candidates, hoping that its list of demands would not be a long one.
Meanwhile, the electoral watchdog, in a press release, announced an extension of two hours to the deadline for the allotment of the election symbol for political parties.
The ECP noted that it was the last day for the allotment of the electoral symbol.
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