Daily Times

Ice has thawed between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government and Jahangir Tareen group and both have reached an agreement.

According to sources familiar with the development, the agreement was reached after senior ministers contacted the disgruntled leader of the ruling party Jahangir Khan Tareen.

They revealed the Tareen group would not boycott the upcoming budget 2021-22 session and vote for the federal government. The estranged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader’s grievances concerning the Punjab government would be addressed, they said.

The sources quoted Jahangir Khan Tareen as demanding that members of his like-minded group should not be subjected to vindictive tactics. The government and Tareen group members are likely to meet soon, they said.

Meanwhile, Raja Riaz has claimed that Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar is ready to address the reservations of the Jahangir Tareen group.

Riaz claimed that CM House Punjab had contacted him and said that he expects to meet the chief minister soon.

The development comes just a day after PTI leader Jahangir Tareen had announced a separate group in the Punjab Assembly in response to the “revenge tactics” employed against him and his supporters, clarifying that the group is still a part of the party.

The group’s parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly, Saeed Akbar, is set to address the floor of the house on Friday and will inform the assembly about the “retaliatory actions” taken against the Tareen group, sources said.

The rift between Tareen and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) widened after the former announced his group’s parliamentary leaders in the National and Punjab assemblies on Wednesday.

Talking to the media, Oan Chaudhry and Muhammad Salman Naeem said that the group has appointed MNA Raja Raiz Ahmad as its parliamentary leader in the National Assembly and Saeed Akbar Khan Nawani in the Punjab Assembly.

The group was named “Jahangir Tareen like-minded group,” the sources added. Muhammad Salman Naeem told journalists that they would stage a “power show” in the Punjab Assembly on Friday. He said that the decision was taken during today’s meeting. However, he refused to disclose the names of the participants of the meeting.