Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) dissident Aleem Khan has challenged former premier Imran Khan to a live TV debate over the allegations levelled against him.
Aleem Khan, who was once considered a close aide of Imran Khan, released a video message in which he challenged the PTI chairman to have a live debate with him on any TV channel.
This comes a day after Imran Khan cited the reason for his differences with both Aleem Khan and Jehangir Khan Tareen on a social media platform. “Aleem Khan wanted to get his 300-acre land along the Ravi River legalised, and it was illegal,” said Imran Khan. Discussing Jehangir Khan Tareen, the PTI chairman said that the inquiry regarding the sugar scandal was the point from where differences between him and Tareen appeared. They came to power only to legalise their illegal activities, he added.
Responding to his former leader, Aleem said that he owns 3000-acre land and not 300 acre. “I bought this land from local agriculturists; I own the housing society since 2010,” Aleem said. He also said that the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) purchased the land at a lesser price compared to the market price and gave it to developers of its choosing.
RUDA, established by Imran Khan, should be probed as to how the private developers got the land for it, he added. He also demanded a probe into the relationship between Farah Khan (a close aide of the former first lady) and private developers. “I am ready for a live debate on TV screens, and the channel will be of your choice,” he said.
He further added that he stood firmly with Imran from 2010 to 2018 and had purchased the society in 2010, and the ex-premier visited him there. Aleem also revealed that he used to meet foreign ambassadors along with Imran Khan when the PTI was in the opposition. “If you meet the ambassadors, you are a patriot, and if someone else meets them, he is a traitor,” Aleem Khan said, adding that these were the double standards of Imran.
It is worth mentioning here that Aleem Khan addressed a hard-hitting press conference last month in Lahore in which he extensively talked about the corruption stories of Imran, then Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar and Farah Khan. Later, he openly supported the candidate of the opposition Hamza Shehbaz for the election of Punjab CM.
Hamza became the leader of the house by getting 197 votes. The 26 dissidents of PTI hailing from the Aleem Khan and JKT groups supported Hamza in the election.
According to sources, the Tareen group will hold its meeting in the next few days in Lahore to craft a strategy to respond to the allegations of Imran Khan. The members of the Tareen group were reportedly advising him to come to the TV screens openly to respond to Imran Khan publicly the way Aleem Khan did.
