After losing its electoral symbol ‘bat’ and possibly the reserved seats in the National Assembly, the PTI has approached four political parties, including religiopolitical outfits, in hope its ‘independent’ members will join these parties after the election, which will allow the former ruling party to retain its reserved seats through proxy measures.

In another bid to reclaim its symbol, the PTI has decided to hold intra-party polls on Feb 5, but the party leaders are not hopeful about the desired outcome.

It also believes the establishment will not allow any political party to gain a simple majority, and a ‘coalition government’ will be installed with strings attached. This was disclosed during a media briefing by PTI information secretary Raoof Hasan, also the federal election commissioner for the intra-party polls, on Thursday.

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