Qureshi rebuffs claims of joining PPP

MULTAN: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi has denied joining the PPP. The proponents will fail, he said, adding that now he is a member of the PTI family and vice-captain of Imran Khan’s team.

He said he had been invited by Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari before joining the PTI but he had thoughtfully supported Imran Khan and would always be with him. He said Imran Khan had clearly said that if Shah Mehmood Qureshi had been an MPA, he would have been Chief Minister of Punjab.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said he wanted to tell the workers that now the vice-captain was standing firm. He and his entire family were with Imran Khan. He would continue his struggle under the leadership of Imran Khan for real freedom and liberation of the country from slavery.

He said MNA Raja Riaz had met Asif Zardari and announced that Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be joining the PPP. “I say my shoe goes to the PPP. The PMLN has given all the tickets to the looters. The voters in 20 constituencies, including PP-217, will reject the looters. We will abide by the law in the by-elections but we will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands.”

He said he had lodged his formal complaint with Election Commission of Pakistan’s Multan Region regarding pre-poll rigging in PP-217. It is the job of the ECP to act on their request as they have provided evidence that their opponents are using government resources recklessly, he said.

He said they wanted peace in the whole election campaign. He said their workers had been attacked at three different locations in PP-217. “What is his fault if children call the PMLN candidate a ‘Lota’? He is not saying that Maryam Nawaz Sharif herself is saying not to support the looters, their place is the bathroom. People are asking whether these ‘Lotas’ are now fit for the drawing room, he said.

He said that he thanked the people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for holding a historic meeting that had broken the previous record as only locals were present in the meeting. He said the nation had accepted Imran Khan's statement against the imported government.

“Inflation has broken records in three months. Their incompetence has come to the fore. They do not have the ability to run the country. Due to which the nation has rejected him. He said that for Hamza Shehbaz, a by-election is a question of life and death. That is why they have thrown the entire administration in this election but the people and the workers are aware and they will not allow anyone to rig them, he said.

The Makhdoom said that at present the number of PTI members in Punjab were 173 while that of the PMLN and allies were 172. “If the ECP decides on special seats in Punjab Assembly, the PTI will be in majority, he said.

“Thus, if the PTI wins 20 seats in the by-elections, these thieves and looters will be wiped out from the Punjab,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court had said that Hamza Shehbaz was not Chief Minister of Punjab.