Daily Times

KARACHI: After Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarian Aamir Liaquat bashed the party for ignoring members of national assembly (MNAs) elected from Karachi , another PTI MNA Aftab Jahangir came forward on Thursday to criticise PTI for its lack of interest in the metropolis.

“It does not matter whether it is Karachi or Islamabad, we have always been neglected,” alleged PTI lawmaker Aftab Jahangir who was elected as a MNA from NA-252. He added that be it a meeting with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) or a visit to the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the PTI did not consult representatives from Karachi. “No one ever asks about us,” Jahangir lamented.

Jahangir urged PTI’s president nominee Dr Arif Alvi to inquire into the matter personally.

Jehangir had secured 21,065 votes defeating MQM-P’s Dr Abdul Qadir Khanzada who got 17,858 votes.

Earlier on Tuesday, another PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat Hussain had claimed on a TV show that MNAs from Karachi were being ignored. He had further expressed his reservations on the decisions being taken by the PTI leadership. The PTI lawmaker complained that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan completely ignored the province for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

However on Thursday, Najeeb Haroon, a PTI MNA from Karachi, informed the media that the PTI had addressed the concerns of Aamir Liaquat Hussain. According to Haroon, Aamir was contacted after differences between him and the party leadership intensified. “We contacted Liaquat and he will vote for Dr Arif Alvi in the presidential election on September 4,” said Haroon.

Several party leaders including Faisal Javed, Faisal Vawda and PTI’s Karachi chapter’s president Firdous Shamim Naqvi had criticised Liaquat following his claims that he had not been invited to a dinner hosted at the Governor House.

“Let me say clearly that if any individual in the world thinks that with his evil mind and filthy heart he would be able to disrespect someone by using religion and people would be scared of him, then I want to categorically state that I’m a person who knows how to make sole of a shoe from such an individual’s tongue,” Faisal Vawda had said in response to Liaquat’s statements about PTI and its leadership on Wednesday.

Faisal Vawda said that Aamir Liaquat had demonstrated ‘extreme immaturity’. “What did he come here for? To graze?” said the MNA lambasting Liaquat for his assertion that Imran Khan had asked him to ‘hold Asif Ali Zardari’s feet’. Vawda had further dared Liaquat to resign from his National Assembly membership and contest election as an independent. He added that the PTI would field its own candidate against Liaquat.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, another PTI leader Faisal Javed Khan said that it was not Hussain that people of the metropolis had voted for but PM Imran Khan. “Even if Imran Khan had nominated a pole instead of Aamir Liaquat, it would have won,” he remarked. Javed added that the former TV personality liked to create hype about things but the party would soon convince him to come back on track.

“I don’t understand why he would say such a thing,” Javed said. He added that Hussain would change his stance ‘within 24 hours’. The PTI MNA’s behaviour was “very wrong if done so in order to be handed a ministry”, Javed said. “He has this nature, he is adventurous but we will persuade him to resolve all issues amicably and you all will hear different news in the morning,” Faisal Javed added.

Before this, Firdous Shamim Naqvi categorically denied that any luncheon was organised by the party in Karachi. Naqvi said there had been no such meet-up, adding, “I don’t know why Mr. Liaquat is making such statements. He will have to answer for them himself.”

PTI MNA and televangelist Hussain had won from NA-245 constituency, bagging 56,615 votes against MQM-P’s Dr Farooq Sattar.

Published in Daily Times, August 31^st 2018.