LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday broke his silence on the domestic reaction to the distribution of Punjab Assembly tickets.
During an interview to a private news channel, the former prime minister explained the reasons for not giving tickets to senior party leaders including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar and Shahbaz Gul.
The former prime minister had last week approved tickets for the provincial assembly to the PTI, sparking a heated debate among party leaders after which a review committee was constituted to look into the matter.
Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry expressed his anger on not getting a ticket and said that he would be surprised if Usman Buzdar was made the chief minister again despite everything being under his supervision in the largest province of the country.
Imran Khan told the anchor person that I need Shah Mehmood, Fawad Chaudhry and Hammad Azhar in the centre.
If everyone goes to Punjab, who will be at the center, the PTI chief asked that the federal government is the engine of running the country.
When asked who would be the PTI’s candidate for the chief ministership, Imran Khan refused to reveal the name, saying, “If I reveal the name now, it will start a race among the hopefuls.”
“After learning from all the mistakes, I will name a chief minister who will take the province up,” he said without specifying what mistakes he had made.
In response to another question regarding former chief minister Usman Buzdar, Imran Khan said that when the government was formed in Punjab [in 2018], three groups emerged in PTI, so Usman Buzdar was made the chief minister.
The former Prime Minister also accused former Army Chief General (R) Qamar Javed Bajwa of running a campaign against Buzdar.
General Bajwa campaigned against Usman Buzdar. He wanted to make Aleem Khan the Chief Minister of Punjab.
The PTI chief also accused Aleem Khan of land grabbing.
Lahore Development Authority gave a presentation that Aleem Khan has illegally occupied the lands in the city.
