NAROWAL/Islamabad - Interior minister Ahsan Iqbal has claimed of rebellion in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said that senators belonging to the political party have told Imran Khan of voting in Senate elections according to their will and not necessarily in party’s interest.

While talking to the media in Narowal, Ahsan claimed that PTI chief Imran Khan is stressing premature elections because senators of PTI have decided to vote on will in Senate elections and not follow orders.

Fifty-two members of the upper house of the parliament, including 12 each from Punjab and Sindh, 11 each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, two from the federal capital and four from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will retire on March 11, 2018. It is believed that the PML-N is going to be the main beneficiary of the Senate elections to be held in March next year.

Speaking to media persons in Narowal on Sunday, Ahsan Iqbal said that the PTI chief desired to get the national and provincial assemblies dissolved to prevent the Senate elections.

He asserted that Imran Khan is resorting to negative tactics to hinder democratic process in Pakistan. He warned that there is evidence of immoral and unethical acts from his personal life that he would go in hiding if brought to light.

The interior minister said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has accepted results of fresh census that was carried out this year after some 19 years though Punjab has lost representative worth of nine seats and those of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have increased.

Sixth census in Pakistan was announced by military and the government in a joint press conference in March earlier this year. If elections were to be conducted in accordance with 1998 census results, KP would have five lesser seats and Balochistan three, he added.

Commenting on political crisis in Karachi, the minister said that proposed merger of MQM-P and PSP was a ‘ventilator alliance’.

Some 18 senators of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), nine of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), five each of Awami National Party (ANP) and independents, four each of Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), three of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), two of Balochistan National Party-A (BNP-A), and one each of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) will complete their terms in March next year.

Prominent among those, who will retire, include Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Leader of the Opposition Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Farhatullah Babar, Azam Swati, Kamran Micheal, Shahi Syed, Kamil Ali Agha, Talha Mehmood, Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Nasreen Jalil and Ilyas Bilour.

The PML-Q will have no representation in the House after March 2018 as its all four senators will retire.

Senators from Punjab, who will retire next year, include M Hamza (PML-N), Kamil Ali Agha (PML-Q), Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari (Independent), Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla (PML-N), Saud Majeed (PML-N) in vice of Malik Rafique Rajwana (PML-N), Sardar Zulfikar Khosa (PML-N), Asif Saeed Kirmani (PML-N) in vice of Dr Babar Awan, Aitzaz Ahsan (PPPP), Muhammad Ishaq Dar (PML-N), Khalida Parveen (PPPP), Nuzhat Sadiq (PML-N) and Kamran Micheal (PML-N).

The 12 senators, who will complete their six-year tenure from Sindh, are Murtaza Wahab (PPPP) in vice of Saeed Ghani (PPPP), Col (r) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (MQM), Karim Ahmed Khawaja (PPPP), Maulana Tanveerul Haq Thanvi (MQM) in vice of Mustafa Kamal, Raza Rabbani (PPPP), Mukhtar Ahmed Dhamrah (PPPP), Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah (PML-F), Muhammad Farogh Naseem (MQM), Taj Haider (PPPP) in vice of Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Nasreen Jalil (MQM), Sehar Kamran (PPPP) and Hari Ram (PPPP).

Similarly, 11 senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who will retire next year, include Ahmed Hassan (PPPP), Baz Muhammad Khan (ANP), Haji Saifullah Khan Bangash (PPPP), Azam Khan Swati (PTI), Muhammad Talha Mehmood (JUI-F), Nisar Muhammad (PML-N), Shahi Syed (ANP), Farhatullah Babar (PPPP), Ilyas Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Rubina Khalid (PPPP) and Zahida Khan (ANP).

The senators from Balochistan, who will complete their term, include Muhammad Daud Khan Achakzai (ANP), Maulana Hafiz Hamdullah (JUI-F), Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri (BNP-A), Muhammad Yousaf (PPPP), Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi (PPPP), Saeedul Hassan Mandokhel (PML), Sardar Fateh Muhammad Hasni (PPPP), Mufti Abdul Sattar (JUI-F), Rozi Khan Kakar (PPPP), Naseema Ehsan (BNP-A) and Rubina Irfan (PML).

Likewise, four senators from FATA, including Hidayatullah, Hilalur Rehman, Malik Najmul Hassan and Muhammad Saleh Shah (independents) and two from federal capital Osman Saifullah (PPPP) and Mushahid Hussain Sayed (PML-Q) will retire on March 11, 2018.