The sacked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial ministers are likely to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan in a day or two to present their side of the story, sources close to the two sacked ministers including Atif Khan and Shehram Tarakai told Business Recorder.
"They will have a meeting with the Prime Minister on his return from Karachi to present their stance on their removal from the provincial cabinet without receiving a show cause notice," sources added.
Senior minister for sports, culture and tourism Atif Khan and minister for health Shahram Tarakai - both close relatives - and minister for revenue Shakeel Ahmad were fired on Sunday allegedly for "plotting" against Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, a day after his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad.
"We will present our case to the Prime Minister. We have reservations about poor governance, increasing corruption, nepotism and the causes that are leading to a declining popularity graph of the party in the province," a close aide of former tourism minister quoted him as having shared with him.
He said that both Atif Khan and Shehram Tarakai were refraining from making public statements before their meeting with the Prime Minister following which they will announce their future course of action.
Atif Khan, a longtime loyalist of the PTI, played a significant role in the merger of Usman Taraki led Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) with PTI in 2016, which also brought him close to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Following July 25, 2018 general elections, Atif Khan emerged as a strong candidate for the office of the chief minister but due to strong resistance from the former chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the current Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Prime Minister Imran Khan named Mahmood Khan - Khattak's nominee - as the chief minister.
Sources revealed that differences did not end despite the portfolio of 'senior minister' conferred on Atif Khan and there had been constant exchange of arguments during meetings of the provincial cabinet chaired by chief minister Mahmood Khan.
Before the de-notification of the three provincial ministers, the former tourism minister had reportedly hosted over a dozen members of the provincial assembly in Hayatabad allegedly to create a 'forward bloc' in the provincial chapter of PTI.
However, sources close to Atif Khan denied the allegation of creating any 'forward bloc' in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and maintained that it was a 'get together of close friends'.
Provincial Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai was not available for comments despite repeated phone calls by this correspondent.
Talking to reporters on Sunday, Pervez Khattak claimed that a 'conspiracy' against the KP government was foiled while referring to sacking of the three provincial ministers.
"Those who violate party discipline will face strict action. They will have to answer for taking the party's internal affairs to the media and carrying out a media trial of the Chief Minister," he said.
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