ISLAMABAD: Istehkam-e-Pakistan (IPP) senior leader Imran Ismail asserted on Tuesday that Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), discussed the possibility of forming his own faction within the party during a meeting in jail.
میری شاہ محمود قریشی سے جیل میں ملاقات ہوئی تھی – میں ریکارڈ کی درستگی کے لیے یہ بات کہنا چاہتا ہوں کہ میں نے ان سے کبھی PTI چھورنے کی بات نہیں کی- یہ ملاقات شاہ صاحب کی خواہش پر ہوئی تھی- شاہ صاحب اپنا گروپ تشکیل دینا چاہیے تھے جس پر ہم نے ساتھ دینے سے معذرت کی-
— Imran Ismail (@ImranIsmailPTI) January 16, 2024
Ismail, a former PTI politician from Sindh, provided additional details about the encounter with the senior politician on X, previously known as Twitter.
On the social media platform, Ismail clarified that the meeting with the senior PTI leader took place while he was in jail, but it was scheduled based on Qureshi’s request.
Contrary to reports suggesting that Qureshi was asked to leave the party, the former Sindh governor stated, “I met Shah Mahmood Qureshi. I want to state for the record that I never talked to him about leaving PTI,” in a post on X.
Ismail acknowledged that the meeting occurred at the behest of Qureshi, who expressed a desire to form his own group. However, Ismail noted that they declined to support this initiative, as mentioned in his social media post.
Ismail’s statement comes amid Qureshi’s candidacy for the upcoming general elections on February 8.
While the exact date of the meeting is not specified by Ismail, it is crucial to highlight that the encounter took place following the May 9 riots and subsequent arrests stemming from the violence, triggered by Imran Khan’s arrest in a corruption case.
Ismail, along with PTI defectors Fawad Chaudhry and Mahmood Molvi (IPP Sindh president), visited the incarcerated politician in Adiala jail in June 2022. Following the meeting, Fawad and others mentioned in a media talk outside the jail that they had been in touch with various PTI leaders and former party members. There were unconfirmed reports that the visitors attempted to persuade Qureshi to part ways with the party.
Contrary to media reports, Qureshi’s son Zain Hussain Qureshi denied any meeting between his father and the former PTI leaders in Adiala Jail. He clarified, “I deny the impression being given in the media on Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s meeting with former PTI leaders in Adiala Jail today [Wednesday]. Makhdoom Sahib is the vice chairman of the party and the name of an ideology.”
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
