Estranged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member and former minister Abdul Aleem Khan on Sunday denied reports that he had joined a new political party. Dismissing them as “baseless”, Khan said that “there is no truth to the news regarding my involvement in forming a new political party”.
“I have a good relationship with Chaudhry Sarwar and Jahangir Tareen, but there is no intention of politics,” he added.
“For the time being all [my] attention is focussed on welfare work,” he continued, “therefore I am detached from political matters. I am not part of any political party, nor do I have the intention to join any.”
It may be noted that in March 2022, Khan, along with a group of like-minded parliamentarians, had announced that he would be joining the estranged faction of the PTI led by Jahangir Khan Tareen.
According to sources, influential political figures have been mobilised of late in a bid to form a new political party reportedly aimed to break the power of PTI in Punjab.
Efforts are reportedly underway to bring together disgruntled PTI leaders. A series of contacts and meetings have been initiated, including prominent families of Central and South Punjab. As per the media reports, parliamentarians from south Punjab, who had joined the PTI post-elections, were not happy with the party’s leadership for a slew of reasons. It was rumoured that these parliamentarians might not even show up during a vote of confidence against PTI ally and Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi in the Punjab Assembly, which would bring to the fore the crack within the party.
