LAHORE - In what appears to be a big blow to Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s efforts to become the chief executive of the most-populated Punjab province for the second time, Aleem Khan group Wednesday announced not to support the prime minister’s nominee for the coveted slot.
The former senior minister in Usman Buzdar’s cabinet, Aleem Khan claims to have the support of some 30 to 40 MPAs in the Punjab Assembly. Spokesperson for Aleem Khan group and Provincial Minister Mian Khalid Mahmood Wednesday declared that Aleem group will not vote for the PML-Q candidate Ch Parvez Elahi for the office of chief minister. The minister said that the group led by Aleem Khan had formally conveyed its reply to Ch Parvez Elahi about its decision not to vote for him in the election of chief minister.
“PM Imran Khan in the past used to call Ch Parvez Elahi with such titles that we could not even dare to repeat. Already, in the last 4 years, a dishonest and incompetent Buzdar was imposed in Punjab and now again Ch Parvez Elahi has been nominated”, he maintained in a statement. The minister questioned as to why Imran Khan could not find any suitable party man out of 184 devoted members of Punjab Assembly to be nominated for the post of chief minister. The provincial minister made it clear that every sincere worker of PTI had objection to the nomination of Ch Parvez Elahi. “Was it this new Pakistan which will now be created by Ch Parvez Elahi? What was the need to establish PTI then?”, he asked, and added: “If it all had to be done by Ch Parvez Elahi then he was already doing this for the last 42 years”. He further asked if this was the ideology of “Khan Sahib” for which he had fought for 25 years and the nation trusted him as well. Mian Khalid Mahmood observed that when time came to save his Govt, “Khan Sahib” nominated that Parvez Elahi as the chief minister whom he used to call a “thief” and a “dacoit”. He asserted that Jahangir Khan Tareen had made many sacrifices for the PTI and they all prayed for his speedy recovery. Also, the Jahangir Tareen group is meeting on Thursday (today) here in Lahore to decide on its strategy in the present situation. Ch Parvez Elahi is already in contact with members of this group, but he has not yet been assured of their support or otherwise.
Aleem Khan claims to have support of some 30-40 MPAs in Punjab Assembly
Meanwhile, the PML-N and the PML-Q leaders Wednesday separately contacted different factions in the PTI including those of Aleem group, JKT group, Chheena group and the like-minded group to seek their support for their respective nominees.
While Ch Parvez Elahi is the sole frontrunner in the race so far, the joint opposition in Punjab Assembly is considering the names of Hamza Shehbaz and Aleem Khan for the office of chief minister. The PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah and Ataullah Tarar contacted head of Chheena Group Ghazanfar Abbas Chheena for the purpose. They offered party tickets and lucrative positions in any future government. Chheena reportedly sought time to decide. Chheena group consists of around 14 MPAs.
Moonis Elahi also contacted different MPAs of the four groups to seek support for his father and offered shares in the ministries. He was also told to wait for their decision.
The former senior minister in Usman Buzdar’s cabinet, Aleem Khan claims to have the support of some 30 to 40 MPAs in the Punjab Assembly. Spokesperson for Aleem Khan group and Provincial Minister Mian Khalid Mahmood Wednesday declared that Aleem group will not vote for the PML-Q candidate Ch Parvez Elahi for the office of chief minister. The minister said that the group led by Aleem Khan had formally conveyed its reply to Ch Parvez Elahi about its decision not to vote for him in the election of chief minister.
“PM Imran Khan in the past used to call Ch Parvez Elahi with such titles that we could not even dare to repeat. Already, in the last 4 years, a dishonest and incompetent Buzdar was imposed in Punjab and now again Ch Parvez Elahi has been nominated”, he maintained in a statement. The minister questioned as to why Imran Khan could not find any suitable party man out of 184 devoted members of Punjab Assembly to be nominated for the post of chief minister. The provincial minister made it clear that every sincere worker of PTI had objection to the nomination of Ch Parvez Elahi. “Was it this new Pakistan which will now be created by Ch Parvez Elahi? What was the need to establish PTI then?”, he asked, and added: “If it all had to be done by Ch Parvez Elahi then he was already doing this for the last 42 years”. He further asked if this was the ideology of “Khan Sahib” for which he had fought for 25 years and the nation trusted him as well. Mian Khalid Mahmood observed that when time came to save his Govt, “Khan Sahib” nominated that Parvez Elahi as the chief minister whom he used to call a “thief” and a “dacoit”. He asserted that Jahangir Khan Tareen had made many sacrifices for the PTI and they all prayed for his speedy recovery. Also, the Jahangir Tareen group is meeting on Thursday (today) here in Lahore to decide on its strategy in the present situation. Ch Parvez Elahi is already in contact with members of this group, but he has not yet been assured of their support or otherwise.
Aleem Khan claims to have support of some 30-40 MPAs in Punjab Assembly
Meanwhile, the PML-N and the PML-Q leaders Wednesday separately contacted different factions in the PTI including those of Aleem group, JKT group, Chheena group and the like-minded group to seek their support for their respective nominees.
While Ch Parvez Elahi is the sole frontrunner in the race so far, the joint opposition in Punjab Assembly is considering the names of Hamza Shehbaz and Aleem Khan for the office of chief minister. The PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah and Ataullah Tarar contacted head of Chheena Group Ghazanfar Abbas Chheena for the purpose. They offered party tickets and lucrative positions in any future government. Chheena reportedly sought time to decide. Chheena group consists of around 14 MPAs.
Moonis Elahi also contacted different MPAs of the four groups to seek support for his father and offered shares in the ministries. He was also told to wait for their decision.
