LAHORE - With the PTI making all possible efforts to make its Friday march on Raiwind a great success, there are leaders who are not satisfied with the policies being pursued by the top party leadership.

Some of the very active supporters of Imran Khan feel so disenchanted that they say the captain should have focused on charity work, as he was doing before joining politics.

Keeping in view the on ground situation with regard to PTI leaders’ declining influence on the populace, Imran has decided to stay in the provincial capital to rejuvenate the old and ideological cadres to make the Raiwind show a success story.

The party leaders who distanced themselves from top leadership or being sidelined by the leaders close to Mr Khan are of the opinion that Raiwind march matters a lot for the political future of the party in Lahore, claimed by the ruling party as its citadel.

The provincial capital has its political symbolic value being the power seat of the largest province of the country. Let’s see what the chosen few around the party chairman would do for Raiwind march.

“Imran is in the company of chosen few who have de-tracked him from pursuing the founding principles of the party and converted the PTI into another political party of status quo, which doesn’t believe in real change anymore,” said party’s founding leader Shabbir Sial.

Mr Sial who held the president slot of City chapter in hard times said, “Party’s founding principles had promised that the poor and middle classes people will be taken to the power corridors in an effort to bring a real change in the political order against the traditional political forces. But we miserably failed on this count and the spirit of October 30, 2011 public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan slowly and gradually lost ground.”

“The people of Lahore and other parts of the provinces voluntarily joined the historic public meeting of 2011 rejecting the tested politicians but Imran disappointed them by ignoring the ideological supporters and volunteers of the party,” he added.

“We cannot complain to the common masses who followed the PTI for a change but it didn’t happen,” said Mr Sial.

“The declining graph of the party because of few parachuted leaders around the party chairman are making party’s public meetings thinner and the sycophants are making a poor bid to befool their supporters,” said another veteran PTI leader Ali Awan.

Mr Awan who held the party position of secretary information labour wing said, “Certain top party leaders following their personal interests are destroying the party and misleading Imran over the launch of an Ehtesaab March campaign. The timing of the move is completely wrong and the party losing ground instead of gaining.”

“Overseas Pakistanis and party’s foreign chapters have stopped contributing to the party back home because of its repeated failures. Recently Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed has resigned from the party and many ideological party activists are in contact with him to join his possible political party. Mr Ahmed may announce a new faction of the PTI,” he added.

Saif Ullah Niazi, former additional secretary general of the party who resigned from his position over differences with top party leaders, advised Imran to launch the ill-conceived march and said the party needed organizational strength at grass root level to grab maximum margin in the next general elections.

The party men need to reach the assemblies in large number in order to form government and hold accountable the corrupt and remaining important issues of the masses. A common man has no interest in marches anymore as it had become difficult for him to make both ends meet, he added.

PTI youth wing which is an important part of the party as Imran called the youth his frontline force too have developed serious differences over party policies influenced by few close to party chairman.

However, Ali Abbas Bokhari and Shiraz Cheema two leaders of the youth wing said that they would make efforts to make the PTI show a success on September 30 at Raiwind despite their differences with some senior party leaders.