Firdous wards off Gill challenge?

The special assistant to the prime minister on information and broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has reportedly conveyed her serious concerns to the Prime Minister after strong rumours surfaced that Dr Shahbaz Gill was moving from pillar to post to be appointed as the chief spokesman for the federal government.

Sources privy to the development told Business Recorder that Gill, a former spokesman for the Punjab government, has been visibly active on Twitter, purportedly on the instructions of the Prime Minister, after a preliminary report on sugar and flour crises involving senior PTI leader Jehangir Tareen among others created ripples in the corridors of power.

Soon after the inquiry report was made available to the press followed by some major changes in federal cabinet, Gill took to Twitter with a claim that Tareen, a long time close confidante of Prime Minister Khan had been removed as chairman of a task force on agriculture, which the latter categorically denied saying he never had the chairmanship of the said task force.

Gill has earned the wrath of pro-Tareen lawmakers in the party with Raja Riaz, MNA of PTI from Faisalabad, grilling Gill to 'come forward and prove his worth by winning a tiny union council seat from his home town of Faisalabad'. The dare given by the Raja of Faisalabad prompted Gill to dismiss him by tweeting: "Raja is so cute".

Sources further claimed that in the recent cabinet reshuffle, Shahbaz Gill was one of the aspirants to be picked as a cabinet member. However, the idea was dropped for the time being following Firdaus Ashiq Awan's reservations that she shared with the Prime Minister, they maintained.

Gill, according to sources, is considered close to Prime Minister Imran Khan who in September last year was forced to tender his resignation as spokesman for the Punjab government after becoming the target of criticism by provincial cabinet members of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar allegedly for 'self-projection' in the media instead of highlighting the achievements of the PTI government and the chief minister.

However, both Firdous Ashiq Awan and Shahbaz Gill were not available for comments despite repeated telephone calls and text messages separately sent on their cell phones till the filing of this report.