peshawar   -  Leaders of the opposition parties have said several MNAs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have contacted them regarding the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister.

In another development, Federal Defence Minister Pervez Khattak’s brother Liaqat Khattak and nephew Ahad Khattak have announced joining JUI-F on Thursday in the federal capital Islamabad.

Talking to The Nation, PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam said that there are disgruntled MNAs in the ruling PTI. “Several MNAs who got elected with PTI ticket are not satisfied with their party and there have been contacts with several such MNAs regarding their support for no-trust vote (against the Prime Minister),” Amir Muqam said.

JUI-F spokesman Abdul Jalil Jan also told this correspondent that their party had also been in contact with several Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MNAs who have reportedly assured support on the no-confidence vote.

“We can’t disclose who those MNAs are, but they have assured us support on no-confidence,” he said.

He also said that a sitting MPA and former PTI irrigation minister Liaqat Khattak and his son Ahad Khattak, a former tehsil nazim, had joined their party at a press conference.

Last year, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak had developed differences with his brother Liaqat Khattak over the issue of party ticket for a by-election on PK-63 constituency. Liaquat wanted his son Ahad to receive the PTI ticket for the PK-63, which had fallen vacant after the death of PTI MPA Jamshedduddin Kakakhel.

However, the PTI ticket was awarded to Mian Umar Kakakhel, son of the late lawmaker. This created a wedge between Pervez and Liaqat. Later, PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali Khan defeated the ruling party candidate in the by-election for PK-63 which widened the gap between the Khattak brothers.

Amid the sour relations, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan removed Liaqat Khattak from his designation of provincial irrigation minister for not supporting the PTI candidate in the PK-63 by-election.