Aleem Khan group joins Tareen group as opposition vies for no-trust numbers

Lahore: A group of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers led by Abdul Aleem Khan, a former Punjab minister, has joined the group of PTI estranged leader Jahangir Khan Tareen, commonly known as JKT.

The decision was announced during a presser after the lawmakers from both groups met at Tareen’s Lahore residence on Monday.

This is a major blow for the PTI government as the opposition is vying to gain numbers to make another no-trust move attempt against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan successful.

Aleem regretted that Tareen was completely ignored after PTI won the elections [in 2018] while praising the efforts he had put into the party. He stated that all estranged members of the party have amalgamated now under Tareen’s leadership.

He expressed concerns about the way the government is being run in Punjab, the most populated province. He claimed that more than 40 MPAs of Punjab, with whom he had met, expressed similar concerns.

Aleem said his pain is not personal and clarified that he doesn’t want to become the chief minister.

PTI leader said they had not felt bad about getting ignored if the party had met the expectations of the people.

Aleem said, “Politics is the name of adding up the number of friends. It is the name of standing by friends during hard times.”

JKT group is reported to have the support of 30 PTI MPAs from Punjab as well as eight MNAs. With the inclusion of the Aleem Khan group, the strength of antagonized groups in the ruling party has beefed up, particularly at a time when the opposition is busy picking the pieces of the puzzle to complete numbers for a no-trust motion against the premier.

Earlier in the day, sources had informed Bol News that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had offered Punjab chief ministership to Aleem for supporting them in a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar.

Aleem Khan and JKT groups together have the support of as many as 60 MPAs hence both leaders can play a vital role in making no-confidence against Punjab CM successful.