K-P CM Pervez Khattak uses official chopper to ‘attend wedding’ in Mansehra

A spokesperson for the CM House, Behrmand Jan, rejected the reports


Our Correspondent November 06, 2017
Spokesperson for the CM House Behrmand Jan has rejected the reports. PHOTO: SCREEN GRAB

PESHAWAR: Despite persistent criticism of VIP culture by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Pervez Khattak, on Sunday, was spotted using his official helicopter to attend a wedding ceremony in Mansehra.

According to reports, CM K-P had to attend the wedding of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) lawmaker Ibrar Tanuli’s son for which he used the helicopter. Tanuli recently developed good relations with Khattak and is also likely to join PTI ahead of the upcoming general elections.

PTI leader’s use of chopper raises eyebrows

K-P Minister for Excise and Taxation Mian Jamshed and PTI lawmaker from Kohistan Zar Gul Khan also accompanied CM Khattak in the helicopter. However, a spokesperson for the CM House Behrmand Jan has refuted the reports.

"The chief minister [Pervez Khattak] went to Abbottabad to attend official events," said the spokesperson and added, “he (Pervez Khattak) didn't use the helicopter for attending a wedding ceremony since it was not on his schedule."

According to the spokesperson, CM K-P went to attend a plots allotment ceremony in small industrial estate Abbottabad-II. Later was scheduled to be a part of a ‘parents’ day’ event at Pine Hill Public School Abbottabad.

This is not the first time that the provincial chief minister’s official helicopter made headlines.

In March 2017, PTI-lead K-P government faced embarrassment when the party’s own prospective candidate for PK-62 by-election, Zar Gul Khan used the official helicopter for campaigning in Kohistan.

The K-P government, however, later claimed that the helicopter was instead used by PTI MPA Abdul Haq to visit Kohistan to resolve a serious dispute between people of Gilgit and the locals. Zar Gul Khan, it had said, just accompanied the MPA during the visit.

‘K-P govt uses helicopter as a taxi service’

In August 2016, K-P Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Atif Khan also faced criticism when he used the official helicopter to inaugurate the first school of the K-P Smart Schools Project – also called container schools – in Lakki Marwat. The project was rolled back later due to technical flaws in the containers.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ