‘Govt resources used in PTI era to promote party image, leaders’

ISLAMABAD: A plan under which fake image of the PTI chairman was promoted has been exposed. A major scandal of PTI era has come to the fore under which state resources were used for illegal political publicity campaign and publicity of PTI leadership and false propaganda against state institutions was made.

Social media teams were tasked with spreading nefarious narrative of PTI in the guise of Annual Development Programme (ADP).

These accounts were used to take ahead political objectives of PTI, launch propaganda campaign of disinformation besides inciting people.

The followers of propaganda accounts were enlarged through state financial resources. The cost of this project was fixed at Rs870 million. The employees salaries ranged from Rs25,000 to Rs40,000.

Investigation has revealed that 72.5 percent accounts among these employees had no inclination towards the PTI before 2021. Also, 86 percent accounts changed their political inclination after June 2022 and started posting PTI narrative on their social media accounts.

These statistics revealed PTI had no ideology before this.

Meanwhile, PMLN leader Ata Tarar also alleged that the PTI leadership recruited about 1,100 people in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to promote the party agenda. He said that those who recruited them must be punished.

Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) Spokesperson Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan alleged that false propaganda was disseminated through the Annual Development Programme (ADP) and the PTI freely used social media to tarnish the reputation of institutions.

Speaking to reporters, Firdous Ashiq Awan stated that it had become a common practice for the PTI chairman to initiate trend topics on social media. She disclosed that an astounding sum of Rs870 million was allocated to promote the agenda of a specific individual instead of genuine welfare of public.

The IPP spokesperson also expressed concern that this budget seemingly intended for public development was used to recruit 30 to 40 individuals and open 800 accounts with the aim of sowing conflict within the state and among the people.