The release of former first lady Bushra Bibi and the recent disappearance and reappearance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur signal a political “charade and compromise,” all occurring with the consent of PTI founder Imran Khan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday.

“The release of Begum Sahiba and her journey to Peshawar is not a routine affair. Similarly, Gandapur’s antics—first making threats and then disappearing from rallies only to reappear—indicate a calculated game,” he said in a social media post on X, erstwhile Twitter.

Asif was referring to Bibi’s release from the Adiala Jail on October 24, nine months after she was imprisoned alongside him in the runup to elections, and the KP CM’s disappearance from the KP House during the PTI protest earlier this month.

Gandapur turned up in the KP Assembly on October 7 almost 30 hours after he went missing from the state house in Islamabad.

The defence minister added that the former first lady’s decision to leave Punjab and set up camp at the Peshawar Chief Minister’s House annexe points to a “deeper narrative.”

He claimed that both individuals were part of a political maneuvering strategy, claiming, “This is not happening without the PTI founder’s approval. They are collectively trying to fool their supporters.”

Meanwhile, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has also expressed his doubts about the situation.

When a journalist asked Kundi whether the release of Bibi was the result of a deal, he suggested that Gandapur may have played a role in her release. He added that Khan’s wife had been imprisoned for nearly nine months before gaining her freedom through the court.

“Whether a deal was made or not, everyone is eager to know the truth,” he said.

Khan has also raised similar concerns over the developments, according to his sister Naureen Niazi.

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Naureen told reporters outside the Islamabad High Court on Monday that her brother inquired whether any deal had been made following the bail granted to two of his sisters.

Khan’s sisters, Aleema and Uzma, were released from the Jhelum Jail on October 25 after their release orders were issued following bail in a case on the PTI’s protest in Islamabad.

They were arrested for participating in the PTI protest when there was a ban on public gatherings in Islamabad.