Rashid’s leaked audio clip sets tongues wagging

AML chief dismisses conversation as ‘joke’ in which he is heard asking someone to bribe PML-N’s Sharqpuri

ISLAMABAD:

Just as the air in Punjab got thicker with heat amid by-polls, an alleged leaked audio clip of AML chief Sheikh Rashid, in which he is heard asking a person to grease the palms of PML-N leader Jalil Sharaqpuri for him to resign, set the social media ablaze with chatter.

The leak was confirmed by Rashid hours after the viral clip elicited heat. However, he tamped his remarks in the telephonic conversation as a “mere joke”, claiming the clip was “doctored” by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.

The purported conversation came to the fore a day after the ruling PML-N lost two key provincial assembly seats when two of their MPAs, including Sharaqpuri, tendered resignations ahead of crucial Punjab by-polls.

In the telephonic conversation between Rashid and the other person identified as Gul Zaman, the former could be heard saying that payment has been made to Sharaqpuri. To which Gul Zaman replied, “fear God, don't speak about this matter on the phone”.

اپنی سفید داڑھی کا ہی لحاظ کر لیتے۔#ByElection2022
pic.twitter.com/44bFyDRGHG https://t.co/4uQLFIChUQ

— Team Rana SanaUllah, Interior Minister (@TeamRSKofficial) July 17, 2022

“I am not talking to India, what is the situation in the city? Beeper has been given on your basis,” the voice believed to be of Rashid's said.

Reacting to the leak, the AML chief lashed out at the government officials for tapping his phone calls and said the rulers in Punjab, reeling from the pain caused by Sharqpuri’s resignation, were now trying to malign him.

‘Sharqpuri must have taken money’

pic.twitter.com/83MBMilA9b

— Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (@ShkhRasheed) July 17, 2022

However, in his reaction to the leak, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah railed against his own party's leader, saying there was no doubt that Sharqpuri must have accepted money to resign in exchange for his resignation from the party.

Speaking at a press conference, the federal minister alleged that Gul Zaman -- the man on the other end of the line -- was Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvaiz Elahi's “frontman”.

Meanwhile, the PML-N leader has denied receiving any payment saying he had no links with Rashid.

“Sheikh Rashid is lying about me. Sheikh Rashid is a crook and he is not sincere with [PTI chairman] Imran Khan,” he added.

As for his part, Zaman also confirmed his conversation with Rashid but expressed ignorance about who Jalil Shaqrpuri was. “Neither do I know who Sharqpuri is, nor have I met him,” he claimed in a statement. “I do not know what Rashid was thinking at that moment.”