Jahangir Khan Tareen, an estranged leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former confidante of Prime Minister Imran Khan, said on Friday he was a member of the ruling party and would remain part of it.
Speaking at a dinner, which he hosted for his party men and supporters at his Lahore residence on Friday, Tareen said that meetings and dinners with friends were a routine matter.
A large number of disgruntled elements in the PTI attended the dinner. At least 29 PTI representatives, including members of the Punjab Assembly and the National Assembly, who attended the dinner, said that Jahangir Tareen was being victimised therefore they would stand by him. Speaking on the occasion, they said they were not forming a pressure group or forward group within the ruling party.
They said that they would continue their struggle for justice while staying in the party. They said they were a part of the PTI and they would demand justice from the party leadership from the party platform. They said it was regretful that some unelected people were consistently providing wrong information to the prime minister.
They said they would not tolerate targeted action against individuals. They said that the situation within the party was worsening due to non-elected people and the PTI was losing its strength.
PTI MNAs Raja Riaz, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, Sami Gillani, Riaz Mazari, Khawaja Shiraz, Javed Warraich and Ghulam Laali attended the reception hosted by Tareen. Provincial ministers Nauman Langrial and Ajmal Cheema, Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Abdul Hayi Dasti, Ameer Muhammad Khan, Rafaqat Gillani, Faisal Jabwana, Khurram Leghari, Asif Majeed, Bilal Warraich, Umar Aftab Dhilon, MPA Tahir Randhawa, MPA Ameen Chaudhry, Ghulam Rasool, Sajjad Warraich, MPA Nazir Chohan, former minister Zawar Warraich, Meher Aslam Bharwana, MPA Salman Naeem and MPA Salman Gondal attended the dinner hosted by Tareen.