Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi seems to be a victim of internal grouping within his own party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, at a time when he is running a nationwide street campaign for the release of founding chairman Imran Khan.
Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s close aide and PTI member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly elected from his native PK-71, Abdul Ghani Khan Afridi, has confirmed internal conspiracies against Sohail Afridi.
In a message on social networking site X, he said that a conspiracy is being hatched against Sohail Afridi, but the conspirators will not succeed. Ghani Afridi has termed the conspiracy against Sohail Afridi as a conspiracy against tribal people. However, he did not say who the conspirators are, but he did say that the conspiracy is taking place within the party.
Although PTI has denied grouping within the party and conspiracies against each other, PTI has been suffering from severe internal grouping for the past several years. While Imran Khan went to jail, the opposing groups have been criticizing each other.
A central leader of PTI said on condition of anonymity that a fight for the chair is currently going on in PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is also affecting the government’s performance. He said that there are many groups in PTI, and most of them are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
‘Atif Khan, Asad Qaiser, Hazara Division, Ali Amin’s groups were already there; now Meena Khan Afridi has also formed his own group.’ He further said that after the removal of Ali Amin Gandapur, now everyone is starting to feel that he can also become the Chief Minister. ‘Every PTI member in the KP Assembly is eager to become the Chief Minister and is making efforts for it.’
He also confirmed that some PTI groups want Sohail Afridi to be removed, for which words are being conveyed to Imran Khan’s sisters so that news against Sohail Afridi can reach Imran Khan.
According to PTI leaders, the party has been suffering from internal grouping since the beginning of the day, and it has increased further after coming to power. He said that important leaders are currently in jail, while new faces have also formed groups.
‘If you look, there are several groups in PTI at the moment. The Atif Khan group, Ali Amin, Sohail Afridi, and Taimur Jhagra groups are strong, while many other small groups are also present.’He said that Sohail Afridi is also facing grouping from his cabinet members.
‘Many members feel that if an ordinary MPA Sohail Afridi can become the Chief Minister, then he can also become it, for which lobbying is also allegedly being done.’According to journalists and analysts, there is a strong grouping in the party against Sohail Afridi. According to young journalist Anwar Zeb, grouping and conspiracy in PTI is not a new thing, but it has been happening since the beginning.
According to PTI sources, Sohail Afridi wanted to expand the cabinet, and the names were also finalized, but the process was delayed due to internal differences. According to journalist Anwar Zeb, different groups want to include their own people in the cabinet, due to which Sohail Afridi is facing difficulties.
He further said that when Sohail Afridi announced the formation of the Imran Khan Relief Force, there was opposition within the party, and Barrister Gohar came out in the open. According to informed sources, Barrister Gohar is also not happy with Sohail Afridi and is leaning towards Ali Amin Gandapur, while Waqas Akram Sheikh has also disappeared from the public eye since Sohail Afridi’s arrival.
According to sources, the Murad Saeed group is still with Sohail Afridi, due to which his position seems a bit strong. According to them, some important central leaders of PTI are against Sohail Afridi’s resistance politics, and on this basis, they are supporting anti-Sohail groups.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf denies internal grouping and alleged conspiracy in the party. Deputy Secretary Information Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ikram Kathana is of the view that there is no grouping in PTI and there is no internal conspiracy against Sohail Afridi.
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