A seemingly beleaguered Imran Khan but…

President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervez Elahi has been arrested. However, it is interesting to note that his arrest is not due to the May 9 events; he, according to caretaker Punjab chief minister Mohsin Naqvi, was “wanted” in a corruption case. Chaudhry Pervez Elahi’s son, Moonis Elahi, too, is ‘’wanted’’ in a case. Meanwhile, Moonis has announced that they will continue to stand with PTI chairman Imran Khan.

According to Moonis, “a series of crackdowns began in January and at that time, my father told me that even if he is arrested, we must stand with Imran Khan. Three days ago, my parents reiterated the same thing.” In an almost identical development, the daughter of imprisoned vice chairman of PTI Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Gauhar Bano Qureshi, has announced that her father “was, is and will continue” to stand with the party chairman.

In other words, the two most senior deputies of Imran Khan—Qureshi and Elahi—have not abandoned him; they have been reiterating their allegiance to the party chairman regularly, although Asad Umar, one of the key senior party leaders, has only quit his position of party’s secretary general as he’s still part of the party as its member. Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail and some others who have quit the party in recent days are now clearly pursuing an agenda that is aimed at depriving Imran Khan of his remaining lieutenants.

In this regard, they have called on Qureshi inside the Adiala jail and spoke to Umar through phone with a view to weaning them away from a seemingly beleaguered Imran Khan. To their sheer chagrin, however, Qureshi’s daughter has clearly explained her father’s position loudly and clearly while Umar has been openly telling the media that “people will still vote for Imran, nobody else”. The question what’s actually in store for Imran has no clear answer though.

Saadat K. Sidhu Lahore

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023