ISLAMABAD, July 8: Fauzia Kasuri, who had sobbingly bid farewell to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf last month because of differences with the PTI leadership over the award of tickets, rejoined the party on Monday.

Donning party colours, Ms Kasuri, who claims to be one of the founding members of the party, was addressing a press conference at the party’s central secretariat: “I am the PTI. This is my party; nobody can stop me from joining the PTI. I am back with my children of the Insaf Students Federation.”

Except for Naz Baloch, a member of the PTI’s women wing, no senior leader of the party accompanied Ms Kasuri on the occasion. According to a PTI source, Ms Baloch played an important role in bringing Ms Kasuri back to the party fold.

Other sources said Ms Kasuri had returned with the support of some quarters close to PTI chairman Imran Khan.

Ms Kasuri said the PTI chief had admitted that distribution of tickets for reserved seats had not been done fairly and a commission already set up by the party would listen to her complaints.

She said she still believed that a ‘mafia’ was working in the party. Without naming anybody, she said she had come back to check the people who were working against the party interests.

Ms Kasuri was introduced at the press conference as adviser to the PTI chairman on overseas Pakistanis and gender development.

Answering questions, Ms Kasuri said she had never doubted the role of Mr Khan. Because of his medical condition he remained out of the party politics for some time and nobody else was there to listen to her complaints.

“I am happy to be back in my family and will again work hard for the fulfilment of our dream to build a just society in the country,” said Ms Kasuri who also held the post of president of the party’s women wing for some time.

When asked about her reported contacts with the PML-N, she admitted that there was an offer but she didn’t accept it. About her earlier plan to contest election from NA-48 Islamabad as an independent candidate, Ms Kasuri said she was interested, but now after rejoining the party she would campaign for Asad Umar, who has been nominated by the party to run for the seat.

When her attention was drawn to the June 5 press conference at which she had accused some PTI leaders of mismanaging party funds and awarding tickets on the basis of nepotism, she said: “I stand by my statement and will fight the case within the party.”

At that press conference she had blamed Hamid Khan, a senior leader of the PTI who acted as the party’s election commissioner, for depriving her of a reserved seat in the National Assembly. She had also alleged that Dr Shireen Mazari, the official spokesperson for the party, was not sincere to the party but even then she had been accommodated on its quota in the National Assembly.

The PTI had argued that Ms Kasuri’s US citizenship issue was the sole reason for not allowing her to participate in the intra-party elections.