CHITRAL: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-Parliamentarians chairman Pervez Khattak has said that the main reason of his parting ways with Imran Khan is attacks on army installations and his attempt to disparage the image of the institution which even India has failed to accomplish.

Addressing two separate gatherings in Chitral and Booni here on Tuesday, he said that being impressed by the slogans of Imran Khan, he joined PTI in 2010 and performed good in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as chief minister to level field for victory of the party in 2018 polls.

Mr Khattak said that the ‘real face’ of Imran Khan came to the fore as prime minister as during that period he crossed all limits of mismanagement and corruption against which he had promised the nation to fight a crusade and transform the country into a ‘new Pakistan’.

“All his claims proved to be a concocted story and rhetoric, which were no consonant with his deeds and it came out that he had no solid programme to drive the country out of the quagmire. It is an irrefutable fact that PTI was elevated to power by Pashtuns in 2018 but Imran Khan kept on ignoring the province and denied its due share in National Finance Commission and then differences started to crop up with him,” he said.

Mr Khattak said that Imran always looked down upon KP, forgetting the fact that it was the bastion of power and the emotionally charged Pashtuns were ever ready to sacrifice their lives for him. He added that he was sidelined when he kept on insisting for the province’s rights and he was not considered for chief minister office only due to his steadfastness.

He said that his strong desire to serve the people of his province prompted him to form his own political party so that he could be in a position to implement his political agenda, which was based on peace, development and prosperity.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2023