Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said the government would soon meet its allies – including PML-Q and MQM – as the opposition ramps up efforts to woo legislators on the other side of the aisle in parliament on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“We have a close relationship with our allies. Earlier, we also had meetings with a few PML-N and PPP friends, who are fed up with their leadership,” he said while talking to reporters in Lahore.

The government’s move to have a huddle with its allies and coalition partners comes after reports that opposition leaders had met with allies of the PTI-led government. The opposition is currently in the midst of a nationwide movement, including protest marches to the capital, with the opposition alliance converging in the capital at different times during the month of March in an attempt to get PM Imran to step down.

In Sindh, the PPP has already started its protest march, even as the PTI has also started a protest rally in Sindh against the PPP.

“The opposition will end up biting dust,” Fawad said in response to the opposition’s political moves.

To a query whether the opposition protest prompted the government to announce relief measures, he said that such decisions are not taken in haste and that the government had planned the relief months ago.

“We just made adjustments to our existing budget to facilitate our middle class. Previously, we had given targeted subsidies to extremely poor segment,” he said, adding that the affluent class of the country would contribute to the relief package.

PM Imran, in a televised address to the nation on Monday, announced that the prices of petrol and diesel would be reduced by Rs10 per litre and the electricity tariff would be decreased by Rs5 per unit. The premier said that all IT companies and freelancers would be entitled to a zero tax regime and announced the government's decision to withdraw capital gain tax on IT startups.

On the opposition’s protest, he criticised the PPP for “using” the government-owned vehicles in the rally and advised Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to learn from his former party leaders when holding demonstrations and public protests. He claimed that the opposition leaders have no trust in each other and the leaked audiotape of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz was proof of that.