No ‘NRO’ behind my return: Jehangir Tareen

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jehangir Tareen has said his return to Pakistan is not the result of any ‘NRO’ or some backdoor effort.

“There is no ‘NRO’ behind my return, I stand by the PTI and am committed to my party,” said Tareen while talking to The News a day after he returned from London. Tareen, who has returned to Pakistan after over a half year, claimed that he went to the UK for medical checkup and his return isn't at all a result of any deal.

Tareen's name was attributed to the sugar scandal early this year but he denied involvement in the scam. To a question about his political role in the coming days, he said he is part of the PTI and a stalwart of Imran Khan.

This is noteworthy that Tareen had played a key role in bringing nearly 30 independent MPAs to the PTI fold due to which the PTI was able to form government in Punjab. Very recently, two ministers were sacked, including senior politician from Jhang Mehr Aslam who got elected as an independent candidate, and Zawar Hussein, the PTI MPA elected from the constituency of Jehangir Tareen. These two were removed on the allegations of poor performance and interestingly, both were politically considered close to Tareen. Already there has been a political tussle between the groups of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Tareen. This recent development related to the sacking of these two ministers has given rise to serious doubts in the PTI cadres, particularly amongst the group of independent MPAs who joined the PTI.

A senior PTI leader who hails from Southern Punjab while commenting over the issue stated that these ministers, particularly the one who joined the PTI after winning in independent capacity, should have been treated with respect