As the PTI faces unprecedented unraveling in the center and the Punjab and Sindh provinces with senior leaders leaving in droves, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of the party has experienced factionalism. Two major groups have emerged in the party in recent days.
PTI’s KP President Pervez Khattak has formed a group after joining hands with former NA Speaker Asad Qasier, while the other faction is under former governor Shah Farman and PTI’s additional secretary Atif Khan, sources told Aaj News.
Both groups have contacted other leaders and workers in the party, seeking their support. The Khattak group has established contact with at least 12 MNAs and 15 MPAs so far.
The next 72 hours will be decisive in the KP politics, sources claimed adding that several leaders could quit the PTI.
Khattak and former KP speaker Mushtaq Ghani are among the leaders who have discussed plans of leaving the party, said the sources.
The development comes as Jahangir Khan Tareen is preparing to form a new political party. Tareen, once a key supporter of Imran Khan, was instrumental in drawing several politicians to the PTI following the 2018 general elections.
Sources say several KP leaders planning to leave the PTI have shown their willingness to work with Tareen and they could make an announcement in the next few days.
Some of the PTI leaders from KP have already left the party.
