Azhar steps down as PTI's Punjab president due to 'lack of access' to Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Hammad Azhar has once again tendered his resignation from the post of party's Punjab chapter president, citing "lack of access to Imran Khan" and restrictions on his movements as the reasons behind his decision.

The politician, who had also served as a federal minister during the PTI regime, remains in hiding amid fears of arrest as he is booked in several cases related to May 9 mayhem.

"Unfortunately I do not have access to Imran Khan. I did not hold a press conference nor did any deal as my movement is very restricted and I cannot go to Adiala [jail]," Azhar wrote on X.

The Imran Khan's loyalist expressed various grievances, one of them was not consulting him in the decisions taken within the PTI's Punjab organisation, as he said "most of these decisions were based on lobbying" instead of merit.

Moreover, he said limited access and provision of one-sided information to the PTI founder also concerned him.

Azhar cited Chaudhry Asghar's removal as PTI's Lahore president as one example of "lobbying", saying that the lobbyists wanted to replace Asghar and they succeeded today and got the desired directives from the jailed PTI founder by giving him the "wrong facts".

The former federal minister said that the "opponents" of the deposed prime minister started misleading him against Asghar after his nomination as Lahore president, despite the latter's services for the party.

He stressed that the PTI leadership also "agreed" with him that the Asghar's removal and many such decisions were a result of "limited access to Khan sahab".

The former federal minister also mentioned that Khan was not being informed about the troubles of PTI members in various other regions.

"In this situation, it is not possible for me or during my presidency of Punjab to violate the merit and denotify the people who are performing and making sacrifices just because their voices cannot reach Khan sahab," he said.

The PTI leader recalled the first time he had resigned "for the same reason that it is not possible for anyone to run the affairs without access to the party leaders".

He further stated that those who have vested interests take advantage of the lack of communication with PTI founder.

Azhar said that the major organisational responsibility should be vested only in those who have access to the party leader to convey complete facts to him.

"Therefore, I am leaving the charge of the Punjab Presidency from today. I was a worker of Imran Khan and will remain so God willing," he concluded.

It may be noted that the PTI leader had stepped down from the posts of acting PTI Punjab president and general-secretary earlier in March, saying that the "party would be best served by leadership present on ground".

In response to Azhar's announcement of resignation, Asghar and PTI Lahore's Secretary-General Hafiz Zeeshan Rasheed also tendered their resignations.

"I'm grateful to the workers for their support in our struggle for the release of PTI founder. I hope the upcoming Lahore president would be a better choice than me," he said.