Imran Khan not to personally appear at election rallies: PTI

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has devised a plan ahead of the by-elections for the National Assembly seats. The PTI also decided that party chief Imran Khan would not show up at election rallies being held in connection with the NA by-polls.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to conduct by-elections for the National Assembly seats vacated by the PTI's lawmakers. The PTI members resigned from their NA seats protesting the no-confidence move that toppled Imran Khan from the premiership last April.

The ECP announced the election schedule for the NA constituencies set in March as no election will be possible from April till the completion of the tenure of the incumbent NA in the third week of August this year.

The decision of the PTI's senior leadership that Imran will not physically appear at the public meetings was made mainly due to the threat to his life. Khan was shot in the leg on December 3 as he waved to crowds from a truck-mounted container while leading a protest march in Wazirabad to Islamabad to pressure the government into announcing an early election. However, his party's march was cut short in Rawalpindi.

During a virtual press conference on January 27, Khan also accused PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari of hatching and financing an assassination plot against him for which the PPP stalwart had hired terrorists. The former president sent a Rs10 billion legal notice to Khan on January 30 for levelling baseless allegations.

However, several political leaders, including ones from the coalition parties also, called for an independent investigation into his allegations.

The PTI chief will address the election campaign meetings through video link, per the strategy hammered out by the senior leadership of the party.