PTI leaks top trend on social media

ISLAMABAD: Audio leaks of conversations of former PTI Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin with the finance ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have become a top trend on social media.

A heated debate continues on social media on the issue. Most people are savaging Shaukat Tarin and term his assertion enmity towards the country. However, the PTI social media wing is defending him. It shows the party is willing to adopt an anti-state narrative for political gains. It has also sent shock waves through patriotic circles. It proves that Imran Khan’s obduracy and ego is superior to national interests and he can go to any extent for his political gains, commentators say.

Political circles say this attitude will hit Imran Khan’s popularity in the country. He also committed a serious blunder by barring the chief ministers of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan from attending a meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by senior political and military leaders. 

The meeting had been called to devise a plan to control damage after recent rains and floods. Their participation would have given a message of national unity and solidarity to the people. Political circles argue that if Imran is not willing to extend a helping hand to the government to cope with floods, it means he is not capable of going along others or taking others along with him. He takes political rivalry as personal enmity even if it hurts national interests, they believe.

PTI leaders have also opposed the government’s appeal for donations to flood victims and asked people, especially overseas Pakistanis, not to send money to the government’s flood relief fund. It is also being resented by many. Imran’s aggressive and rigid attitude is curtailing his options. His foolish friends and advisers are leading him down a blind alley.