ISLAMABAD: Dr Tahirul Qadri and his followers have left the Constitution Avenue.

However, Pakistan Awaami Tehreek chief’s ‘political cousin’ Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf stays put, insisting that his sit-in will continue until the prime minister quits office.

The cricketer-turned politician appears to have been caught by surprise and left upset by Qadri’s sudden move to wind up the 67-day sit-in. But he now faces the enormous challenge of putting up a show outside the parliament in the coming days.

Know more: Qadri announces end to Islamabad sit-in

To deal with the crisis, the party issued a schedule to the district chapters of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to bring people so that the number of people at the gathering does not reduce.

Earlier, the party had asked the PTI’s local chapters of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to ensure the presence of people.

Following Tahirul Qadri’s departure from Constitution Avenue, PTI leaders have started to bring in more people to their sit-in

However, the local chapter of Rawalpindi failed to convince supporters to come to the sit-in during the last few weeks, while the party remained busy organising public meetings in other cities.

A senior local party leader told Dawn that PTI had requested Rawalpindi and Islamabad chapter to ensure that 1,000 people from each city are present at the sit-in.

However, he said that most people came to the sit-in without efforts from the local leaders.

“Most people in Rawalpindi complained that the local chapter failed to launch an effective mobilisation campaign to bring more people to the sit-in,” he said.

The party leader said that people want to come to the sit-in but there was no arrangement for them to be transported from Rawalpindi to Islamabad.

He added that most people want to go to the sit-in in the evenings, but now senior party leaders want people present in the morning as well.

Under the new schedule, people from Peshawar district are to come on Thursdays, people from Dir on Friday, PTI Sargodha district is to bring people on Saturday while those from Rawalpindi and Attock are to come on Sunday.

PTI Punjab North President Sadaqat Abbasi confirmed reports of a new schedule for the districts.

He said that the party had directed every district from Punjab and KP to bring at least 1,000 people to the sit-in.

He explained that the schedule had not been issued till Sunday as there was discussion among party leaders to decide the future strategy. However, he refused to admit that most local leaders are in favour of ending the sit-in.

He clarified that the party will not play songs and music during Muharram.

“We will invite religious leaders to speak about the betterment of society. Naat Khawans will present naats instead of music,” he said.

Sadaqat Abbasi added that Quran Khawani will be held before and after the speech of the party chairman. He said the party workers and supporters who wanted to go to Majalis and Muharram processions would be encouraged to participate in their religious rituals.

PTI Rawalpindi District President Arif Abbasi said the party had started the work mobilising people to participate in the sit-ins in the coming days.

“The departure of PAT workers will not affect the gathering of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf supporters outside the parliament. We assigned the union councils to bring maximum people to the sit-in and make arrangements for the transportation of workers,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014