Cabinet ministers and ruling party members have started lobbying in favour of senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, as Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid on Wednesday said it was a fact that he had played the main role in the formation of the PTI government.

24NewsHD TV channel reported that the minister said it would be wrong to say that who cared about him at a time when Tareen was in trouble. Only those stand by in a difficult period who do not change like the weather, he remarked.

Similarly, Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood – a PTI MNA from Dera Ghazi Khan – said Tareen was the party’s backbone. Prime Minister Imran Khan should immediately take notice of his character assassination which was damaging to both the government and the party, he added.

According to Khawaja, the government ensures compilation of commission reports against those it wants to act, as the inquiry commission too is political in its nature just like the inquiry committee.

These statements are in complete contrast to the immediate reaction by Shahbaz Gill – the prime minister’s spokesperson – after the government’s decision to reshuffle the cabinet and remove Tareen from the Agriculture Task Force.

Gill had said in a tweet that Tareen was removed as the chairman of Agriculture Task Force.

https://twitter.com/SHABAZGIL/status/1247135736912121856

But it trigged a backlash, as Tareen said he was never the chairman of any taskforce. “Can anyone show me a notification” in this respect, he added.

https://twitter.com/JahangirKTareen/status/1247137081199144965

Although, Gill didn’t respond but there were people who had something to share.

https://twitter.com/murtazasolangi/status/1247181893759635456

And although Sheraz has asked the prime minister to take notice of the matter, Tareen had shared his views in clear terms some days back.

He not only questioned the criteria used to select nine sugar mills for forensic audit but also said that the inquiry commission, or whoever took the decision – in an apparent reference to the prime minister – must answer the question why only a targeted bunch of mills were being audited.

https://twitter.com/JahangirKTareen/status/1248535483745030144