Never paid ‘a penny’ for Bani Gala: Tareen

Disgruntled PTI leader refutes claim of ex-party leader Wajihuddin Ahmed

ISLAMABAD:

Disgruntled PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen on Wednesday maintained that he had never paid for the “household expenses of Bani Gala” in response to the claim of former party leader Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed.

A day earlier, Wajihuddin had accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of taking money from Tareen -- Rs3 million per month -- to run his Bani Gala household.

In a tweet, Tareen, who is reportedly not on good terms with PM Imran anymore, said regardless of the current status of his relationship with the premier, he would not hide the truth.

"I did whatever was in my capacity to help [the] PTI in the quest to build a new Pakistan but I never gave a penny for the household expenses of Bani Gala," he added.

"Just want to set the record straight.”

Wajihuddin, who had parted ways with the party in the wake of serious differences with the PTI chief, made the claim while speaking on a news programme on a private TV channel.

"The notion that Imran Khan is a [financially] honest man is completely devoid of truth," he said and went on to claim that, "he [PM Imran] hasn't been running his household himself for years”.

"Initially, the Jahangir Tareen group used to pay Rs3 million monthly to run his house and the amount was later increased to Rs5 million after it was determined that Rs3 million were not enough for the PTI chief's palatial Bani Gala residence.”

He further said certain party members would pay for PM Imran's car fuel tank and “would make sure that his pockets are full".

"How can a man call himself righteous whose shoelaces are not even his own?" he quoted an unnamed PTI leader as saying.

Responding to the astonishing claims, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said the claims were "completely false and illogical".

"Whoever knows Imran Khan, knows his honesty and dignity. Wajih sahib often makes illogical remarks such as these in despair over being expelled from the party," he wrote in a tweet.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said “jokers” like Justice [retd) Wajihuddin say things like these to increase their importance.

Speaking at a news conference, the information minister said that “such people are not recognised by their families either so there is no need to pay much attention to them".

In 2016, Wajihuddin, a former judge of the Supreme Court, had launched his own political party, Aam Loeg Ittehad.

Addressing a news conference at the National Press Club, he had said his party’s constitution guaranteed 80% representation to ordinary people at local, provincial and national levels.

“It is a bitter truth that only 1%, or the elite of Pakistan, has hijacked the entire system of institutional governance, while ordinary people watch on,” he had claimed.

Wajihuddin had quit the PTI after developing differences with the party’s leadership over the implementation of recommendations he had made over ‘irregularities’ in its intra-party elections.