Ousted KP ministers say govt can’t be removed with 20 MPAs

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ousted ministers Atif Khan and Shahram Khan Tarakai have said that they have not hatched anyconspiracy, rather a conspiracy has been hatched against them and they know the conspirators.

In a shocking development on Sunday, three provincial ministers Atif Khan, Shahram Khan Tarakai and Shakeel Ahmad were removed from the KP cabinet on charges of creating grouping in the ruling PTI.

Atif Khan and Shahram Tarakai said in an interview that Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak was behind the whole situation.

The PTI leaders said they did not go to the meeting to conspire against Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, and they cannot remove the provincial CM when he is backed by Prime Minister Imran Khan. They said the government cannot be changed with the support of only 20 MPAs. They said Mehmood Khan is a good person, but there are some people around him that constantly tell him that he is in danger of being removed by MPAs. They said that the matter is in the hands of Pervaiz Khattak now.

Atif Khan and Shahram Tarakai said that their stance was not even heard. They said that others benefited from their fights within the party, and no one listened to them when they emphasised on reforms to remove the hurdles.

They said the prime minister has not contacted them and they learned about their removal from others through messages. They said some central PTI leaders are trying to resolve the issue.

Shakeel Ahmad said that he has never violated discipline of the party in seven years of his service. He said that people should ask the reason from those who ousted him. He added that he went to Hayatabad for a dinner and not a meeting, where Atif Khan, Tarakai and other few people were accompanying him.