After weeks of reported rifts within the ranks of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has resigned as the provincial chief executive on jailed party founder Imran Khan’ orders.
Amid speculation on the reason behind his sacking and the PTI’s claims of no divides within the party, senior journalist and analyst Ansar has said the development is a “stark reminder of how perilous it can be for even a powerful figure in PTI to end up on the wrong side of the two women closest to incarcerated Khan”.
“The once-fiery PTI stalwart had little political ground left to stand on after a bruising, power struggle with Aleema Khan and an old rift with Bushra Bibi that never truly healed,” Abbasi wrote for The News.
He said that tensions between Gandapur and Bushra Bibi had been simmering since last year when the PTI leadership decided to lead a protest march to Islamabad’s D-Chowk.
The demonstration had turned bloody after Bushra Bibi had overruled Gandapur and pushed for the march to continue to the heart of the capital despite the latter’s advice to stop at Sangjani on security and strategic grounds.
This, Abbasi said, was the first visible sign that Gandapur’s authority within the party was challenged by Bushra Bibi, who, despite the CM’s reluctance, had joined the march and led it too.
The rift deepened when Bushra Bibi publicly claimed that she had been “left alone” at D-Chowk during the tense standoff — a statement Gandapur publicly rejected. “I was with her from beginning to end,” he had told reporters.
Gandapur, the journalist said, was also upset with the interference into political matters by Bushra Bibi during her stay in Peshawar despite a lack of support from within the party as Imran Khan always trusted her the most.
The more serious confrontation, Abbasi maintained, was recently when Gandapur openly accused Khan’s sister Aleema of engineering a rift within the PTI, further alleging that she was being facilitated by the Military Intelligence (MI) and “establishment.”
“Imran Khan is my leader and I am loyal to him. It is my right to convey the truth to him … I made him aware of all that has been happening [during my meeting with him yesterday],” Gandapur had said in a video statement.
The KP CM said that he had conveyed to the party founder that Aleema had a big role in dividing the party and some members being discredited. He also alleged that no steps were being taken for Khan’s release. “Instead, there is groupism in party which some people are using to serve their own interests.”
He alleged that Aleema was in contact with “vloggers” working to create divide in the party. “And instead of stopping them… she is provoking them. And Hafeezullah Niazi sahib refers to Aleema Khan as the prime minister in his articles. He writes that she should become the party chairperson,” he alleged.
Days later, Khan had reportedly told Gandapur and Aleema to avoid issuing statements against each other.